Never too old to raise hope
They put someone else’s life before their own. They included frontline health workers to retired servicemen, from students to professionals to ordinary citizens. Here are some of the inspirational stories from across the world.
100-year-old Captain Sir Tom Moore was 99 when he set out to do something towards pandemic efforts amid COVID-19.
His goal was to raise £1,000 for National Health Service (NHS) workers by walking 100 laps through his 82-foot garden before his 100th birthday in late April.
Moore reached his target in a single day and now the amount raised by this veteran crossed £32 million, earning him knighthood and two Guinness World Records. Captain Sir Moore’s efforts were applauded and copied around the world.
See: Boris Johnson tweets about Captain Moore
101-year old fellow ‘walker’ in UK
Taking from Captain Sir Moore’s example, former nurse Joan Rich decided to walk 102 laps of her park before her 102nd birthday which fell on September 11. As she clocked more than 35 miles on her birthday, Rich surpassed her original goal of raising £1,020 by 25 times, raising just over £25,000. The money raised will go to the same charity as Captain Sir Moore’s chosen one, the NHS Charities Together.
See: Fund raising
According to a BBC report, Rich was posted to the Army in 1942 and was a member of the Royal Military Police in Jerusalem where she helped prisoners of war returning from camps in Japan with rehabilitation.
See: Going Viral
Russian war veteran does her part
After her grandchildren showed her a video of Moore’s efforts, 97-year-old Zinaida Korneva decided to chip in for her home country of Russia. A World War II veteran herself, she said in a video in April addressing Captain Sir Moore, “Together, we defeated fascism in 1945, and now, together, we are fighting this virus.”
WATCH: Zinaida message for Captain Moore
Korneva had no walking in her fundraising plans as she has a bad hip and a built-in pacemaker. She instead shared everyday stories from her war days through video clips. Korneva’s efforts have reportedly raised over $32,000.
5-year old amputee hero
Tony Hudgell set a target of £500 challenging himself to walk everyday in June. The five-year old had lost both legs as a result of injuries he had as a baby. Having received new prosthetic legs this year, Hudgell took inspiration from Sir Captain Moore and aimed to hit 10km as his walking target. The young boy raised over a million pounds.
School bus driver to getting food for children
Tara Copp, a journalist, shared the story of school bus driver Ibrahim (in the left). Ibrahim converted his school bus into a delivery truck for Food for Kids, delivering up to 10,000 meals a day
See: Tweet about Ibrahim