We all know the story of Captain Tom who in the midst of the corona virus pledged to raise £1000 for the NHS Charities by his 100th birthday. He began on the 6 April to complete one hundred 25-metre laps in his garden with the help of a walking frame.
Soon after BBC One shared his fundraising challenge – “Tom’s 100th Birthday Walk For The NHS” it generated much interest and inspired the world. Donations came from far and wide.
When he achieved 100 laps on the morning of 16 April, Michael Ball sang “You’ll Never Walk Alone” for him live on BBC Breakfast. Soon after the performance Decca Records released a single featuring the NHS Voices of Care Choir and Capt Tom’s spoken words. The recording topped the United Kingdom’s “The Official Big Top 40” chart, became the biggest trending song and went straight to No. 1 in the weekly UK Singles Chart. As well as becoming a one-hit wonder, he holds the Guinness World Record as the oldest person to have a No. 1 on his 100th birthday.
Even we doodles sent him a birthday wish – like hundreds of thousands of people form all over the world.
But he didn’t stop.
He kept going till his 100th birthday on the 30th April. On that day, Captain Tom was also made an honorary colonel, and became an honorary member of the England cricket team. The occasion was also marked with an RAF flypast and birthday greetings from the Queen and prime minister.
By the time his campaign closed at the end of that day, Captain Tom single-handedly raised more than £32.79 million. He holds the Guinness World Record as the fundraiser raising the greatest amount of money in an individual charity walk.
Soon other accolades came his way. He received the BBC Sports Personality of the Year. But none beats him being conferred a Knight Bachelor by the Queen on the 20 May. And he became Captain Sir Tom Moore.
And then to top it all off – he made the cover of GQ’s Jan/Feb 2021 Issue.
May’s comment: Here’s to believing that we are never too old for things to happen to us! Never too old to try new things, never too old to achieve goals.
At 100 years of age, Capt. Sir Tom Moore raised over £35M for frontline workers by just taking it one step at a time, has a #1 hit – “You’ll Never Walk Alone” with Michael Ball, became Sir Tom Moore and appeared on GQ’s cover!
I bet he never visualised how his life would turn out.
May we be inspired – and though we may not all live to 100, may we keep going as long as we have the health to do so.
