Captain Sir Tom Moore is admitted to hospital after testing positive for Covid and family reveal he has been treated for pneumonia over ‘past few weeks’ as the Prime Minister sends his best wishes
Captain Tom Moore has been admitted to hospital after testing positive for coronavirus, his family have revealed.
He has suffered with pneumonia over the ‘past few weeks’, his daughter Hannah revealed in a statement, and last week also tested positive for coronavirus.
The 100-year-old was admitted to Bedford Hospital in Bedfordshire today after requiring ‘help with his breathing’. He is not in intensive care, his family added.
It is unclear if Captain Tom has had the coronavirus vaccine.
Captain Tom has been admitted to hospital after struggling with coronavirus and pnemonia
The statement, posted on his Twitter page, read: ‘I wanted to update everybody that today (Sunday 31 January) my father was admitted to hospital.
‘Over the last few weeks he was being treated for pneumonia and last week tested positive for Covid-19.
‘He was at home with us until today when he needed additional help with his breathing. He is being treated in a ward although he is not in ICU.
‘The medical care he has received in the last few weeks has been remarkable and we know that the wonderful staff at Bedford Hospital will do all they can to make him comfortable and hopefully return home as soon as possible.
‘We understand that everyone will be wishing him well. We are of course focussing on my father and will update you when we are able to.’
The message was signed off ‘Hannah x’.
The war veteran became a national treasure during the first coronavirus lockdown after he raised more than £32 million for the NHS by walking 100 laps of his garden before his 100th birthday.
He set out to raise £1,000 from his lockdown charity challenge but his efforts struck a chord with the nation, and praise and donations flooded in.
Captain Tom’s efforts earned him a Knighthood and a promotion to honorary Colonel and he was last month named GQ’s Inspiration of the Year 2020.
Captain Sir Tom Moore (pictured in April) became a national treasure during the first coronavirus lockdown after he raised more than £32 million for the NHS by walking 100 laps of his garden before his 100th birthday
He was knighted by the Queen during a unique open-air ceremony at Windsor Castle in summer 2020.
Captain Tom also scored a No. 1 single, wrote an autobiography and is helping to set up a charity.
He also launched a £35.95 bottle of gin, his own podcast and there have even been reports of a movie about him.
His daughter Hannah Ingram-Moore, a recruitment officer, from Marston Moretaine in Bedfordshire, revealed the fundraising idea came about after her husband Colin challenged his father-in-law to to do 100 laps before his birthday.
Mrs Ingram-Moore revealed how her father had a fall in their kitchen at the end of 2018 and had bought himself a treadmill to rehabilitate after he fractured his hip.
Sir Tom came out with his walker one lockdown weekend and her husband said, according to The Telegraph: ‘Carry on walking, Tom, we’ll give you a pound a lap. Do 100 by your 100th birthday.’
The family were forced to cancel his birthday party in April because of Covid-19 restrictions but set up a JustGiving page in the hope they would raise £1,000.
She told how the total went to £2,000 overnight and £12 million a month later after Sir Tom featured on BBC Breakfast and Michael Ball spoke to him on BBC Radio Two.
She described how the family were ‘not eating or sleeping’ to manage the technology, phone calls and emails while keeping the recruitment business going.
‘Dad could see we were so tired and he said: ‘Should we make this stop? I’m worried for you.’ It was a watershed moment,’ Mrs Ingram-Moore said.
She continued: ‘We said: ‘No, because what you are doing is having such a positive impact on people around the world. We just have to manage it.’