War hero Tom Moore, 99, raises £6.9million for NHS by doing laps of his garden

15 April 2020, 10:34 | Updated: 15 April 2020, 14:33

Piers Morgan calls for Captain Tom Moore to be knighted

WWII veteran Captain Tom Moore has been raising funds for the NHS by walking around his garden on a zimmer frame.

A 99-year-old veteran has raised an incredible £6.9million for the NHS after challenging himself to walk up and down his garden 100 times.

Tom Moore originally wanted to raise £1,000 last Thursday when he set out to walk 100 lengths of his Bedfordshire lawn before he turns 100 on April 30.

But after winning over the hearts of the nation, the fundraiser topped £1 million as of 9am on Tuesday, before reaching an incredible £5 million this morning.

Tom Moore has made more than £5million for the NHS. Picture: PA Images

A burst of donations even caused Captain Moore’s JustGiving page to crash as a sum was pledged on average every 20 seconds.

“I think that's absolutely enormous,” he told BBC.

“At no time when we started off with this exercise did we anticipate we'd get anything near that sort of money.

“It just shows that people have such high regard for matters of our National Health Service and it's really amazing that people have paid so much money.”

Tom was a civil engineer before he joined the army for the Second World War, serving in India and Burma. Before undertaking the challenge, he also had a hip replacement.

And the veteran’s incredible fundraising has attracted the attention of many famous faces.

Tom Moore appeared on GMB with his daughter Hannah. Picture: ITV

When he appeared on Good Morning Britain with his daughter Hannah, presenter Piers Morgan handed over a staggering £10,000 of his own money.

Piers told Tom: “I think this is absolutely brilliant, Captain Tom Moore, what a pleasure it is to talk to you, an honour, thank you for serving your country.

“I am so glad we were able to through the brilliant NHS to serve you back and keep you going and I know, you’re now doing this walk for the NHS, good luck.”

NHS Charities Together, which is receiving the funds, thanked Piers, 55, for his donation, and Captain Moore for all the hard work he is doing.