Tom Moore, the British veteran, raised £ 33 million for caregivers. - Justin TALLIS / AFP

He achieved the feat of collecting 33 million pounds sterling (nearly 38 million euros) for the British health service. Veteran Tom Moore will be knighted on Wednesday, Downing Street announced on Tuesday evening.

"Captain Tom", who participated in the Second World War, collected this unprecedented sum, approved by the Guiness Academy, by carrying out with small steps, equipped with his walker, 100 laps of his garden of Bedfordshire before his hundredth birthday , April 30.

A "national treasure" according to Boris Johnson

Just over three weeks earlier, he had set himself the challenge of obtaining 1,000 pounds for associations linked to the public health service, the NHS, on the front line in the fight against the new coronavirus.

The story of this veteran and the influx of donations have raised the public's heart in the UK, the second country hardest hit by Sars COV-2, with the deaths of more than 35,000 patients who tested positive , more than 41,000 including suspicious cases.

Appointed as Honorary Colonel since, Tom Moore "has inspired the whole country and has given us all a light amidst the fog of the coronavirus," Boris Johnson, whose management of the crisis is highly criticized, said in a statement. The Prime Minister, who believes that Tom Moore is a "national treasure", personally asked the queen that the centenary be knighted.

His cover of “You'll never walk alone” at the top of the sales

For Tom Moore's birthday, two Royal Air Force fighters generally deployed for World War II commemorative events, a Spitfire and a Hurricane, flew through the skies of Bedfordshire.

The veteran also rose to first place in the singles ranking in the English charts for a cover with British artist Michael Ball and the NHS choruses of You'll never walk alone ("You will never walk alone "). This song, taken from a post-war musical and become a hymn of supporters of the Liverpool football club in particular, is now a symbol of mutual aid in these times of pandemic.

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