A 99-year-old World War II veteran in the UK has been hailed as a hero for his fundraising. Captain Tom Moore has raised over $25 million for the UK's health service (NHS) by walking around his garden 100 times. He wanted to raise £1,000 to thank NHS staff for his treatment for cancer and a broken hip. He set up a donation page on a fundraising website. He said he would do 100 laps of his garden before his 100th birthday on April the 30th. This caught the imagination of the British public, who donated millions of dollars a day. Prince William called him a "one-man fundraising machine".
Captain Moore completed his 100 laps on Thursday. He will keep walking as long as people are still donating. Half a million people signed a petition to award a knighthood to Captain Moore. He would then become Sir Tom Moore. The soon-to-be centenarian was overwhelmed by the public response. He said: "I appreciate it because the object for which we're donating, [the NHS,] is so important." A UK newspaper praised him but said the government should be funding the NHS. It wrote: "Such altruism is a damning reflection on the state of our NHS."