British philanthropist Tom Moore, 100, dies after COVID-19 diagnosis

Feb. 2 (UPI) — Capt. Sir Tom Moore, 100, a World War II veteran who raised $45 million for the National Health Service, has died after COVID-19 diagnosis, his family said.

Moore was admitted to Bedford Hospital on Sunday for “additional help” with this breathing.

The centenarian tested positive for COVID-19 last week and had not yet received the vaccine because he was being treated for pneumonia for the past few weeks, the British daily newspaper The Times reported Tuesday.

He was “an incredible father and grandfather,” his daughters told The Times, adding that in his last hours, they “shared laughter and tears together.”

In July, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in a ceremony at Windsor Castle, where he was recognized for walking 100 laps around the 82 foot loop of his garden in England using his walker during the national lockdown in April ahead of his 100th birthday to raise money for the NHS. Moore originally set out to raise $1,370 from the walk, but eventually raised $45 million from more than 1.5 million supporters.

“At times of crisis, a nation needs hopes and heroes,” the BBC reported in an obituary.

The Royal Family also sent condolences.

“The Queen is sending a private message of condolence to the family of Captain Sir Moore,” The Royal Family tweeted. “Her majesty very much enjoyed meeting Captain Sir Tom and his family at Windsor last year. Her thoughts and those of the Royal Family are with them.”

Moore served in India and Burma during WWII.

The Royal Air Force honored him with a flyby above his home in Bedfordshire on his 100th birthday, and fans sent him more than 150,000 birthday cards, The Washington Post reported.

“Tonight the Union Flag flies at half mast in memory of the life of Captain Sir Tom Moore,” the prime minister’s office at 10 Downing Street announced on Twitter.

Moore was born in Keighley on April 30, 1920, to a middle-class family, but the Wall Street crash a decade later led to an economic depression, which hit the Yorkshire mill town where he was raised.

He loved motorbikes, and was about to start an apprenticeship in engineering before he was conscripted into the British army in June 1940, where he joined the Duke of Wellington’s regiment, the BBC reported. He used his knowledge of motorbikes to train dispatch riders in the army. He left the military service in 1960, and went back to his native Yorkshire where he worked as a sales manager.

Moore, who retired at age 72, also won various cup and medals racing his motorbikes around Yorkshire, the BBC reported.

Moore first had an 18 year-marriage with Billie, with whom he never had children. With his second wife, Pamela, he had two children, Lucy and Hannah. Pamela died in 2006 after falling ill with dementia.