Heroes across the Channel, centenary Tom Moore, alias -

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Captain Tom Moore, a hundred-year-old veteran who became the hero of the British after raising a record sum for the health service in the midst of a pandemic, was hospitalized on Sunday after being in turn infected with the coronavirus, his family announced.

"In recent weeks, he was being treated for pneumonia and he tested positive for Covid-19 last week," his daughter Hannah said on Twitter.

“He was at home with us until today when he needed extra help with breathing,” she added.

Hospitalized but not in intensive care

He was admitted to Bedford hospital (central England), but is not in intensive care, she continued, saying she hoped to return home "as soon as possible".

"Captain Tom", who fought in World War II, had achieved the feat of raising the unprecedented sum of 33 million pounds (37 million euros) - approved by the Guinness Academy - by taking small steps , with his walker, 100 laps of his Bedfordshire garden before his 100th birthday on April 30, 2020.

This record fundraising started modestly, when he challenged himself to obtain 1,000 pounds for associations linked to the public health service, the NHS, on the front line in the fight against the coronavirus.

A "national treasure"

Get well messages quickly poured in.

“My thoughts are with @ CaptainTomMoore and his family.

You have inspired a whole nation and I know we all wish you a full recovery, ”Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted.

Labor opposition leader Keir Starmer called him "an inspiration to all during the crisis".

Now 100 years old, the veteran was named colonel on the occasion of his birthday, which had taken on the appearance of a national celebration.

He was also knighted by Queen Elizabeth II last July at the request of Boris Johnson, who called him a “national treasure”.

The story of Tom Moore and the influx of donations he generated had put balm in the hearts of the British, whose country is the most bereaved in Europe by the coronavirus with more than 106,000 dead.

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