This Side of the Pond

Week 354 of self-isolation and, I don’t know about you, but the tales of love and support between neighbors across the globe are still doing a sterling job of keeping me grounded. But there’s one story in particular that has warmed the deepest crevices of my heart.

Over in Bedfordshire, in the east of England, lives a man by the name of Tom who will be celebrating his 100th birthday at the end of the month. He is also a decorated veteran of World War II, so you can be sure he knows to keep the flame of wartime spirit burning in any time of crisis.

Known as Captain Tom, he served in India and Burma. He later became an instructor in armored warfare at Bovington Camp in my home county of Dorset.

In that spirit of community togetherness that got his nation through the War, Captain Tom decided he would celebrate his upcoming birthday in a special way. He set a goal for himself to complete 100 laps of his back yard, one for each year of his life.

His goal by doing this was to raise £1000 for the National Health Service (NHS), our public healthcare system. His family thought that was a bit of a stretch, but they helped him set up a fundraising page and off he set on his walking frame, completing ten laps each day.

The loop he’s been traveling is only about 82 feet, but then let’s not forget that Captain Tom is nearly 100 years old.

“Tomorrow will be a good day,” he said as his adventure began.

Word got out about Captain Tom and his efforts to support Britain’s healthcare workers. Within 24 hours, he’d smashed his fundraising goal – pledges had reached £70,000 and were still climbing.

“The reason I am doing it is because of the service that I have personally got from the NHS and from the super good nurses who are also so kind and patient,” he told the BBC in one of multiple interviews he was to give over the next few days.

He wasn’t alone in giving them praise. Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave a lovely speech to the nation after being released from hospital, where he had been moved to intensive care as his COVID-19 symptoms worsened.

He named the two nurses who sat up through the night with him and made decisions about his care on a minute-to-minute basis at a time when “it could have gone either way” and thanked all the NHS staff who had worked to restore him to health. He told Brits they had done the right thing in building a human shield around the country’s greatest national asset.

“We will win because our NHS is the beating heart of this country. It is the best of this country. It is unconquerable. It is powered by love,” he said. I believe we can all agree that his sentiment applies to healthcare and frontline workers right across the world as they stand in harm’s way to protect the rest of us.

Back in Captain Tom’s yard, the number of loops was still climbing and so were the donations from the public. His family decided they needed to adjust the fundraising goal to £500,000, but even that wasn’t enough.

“Almost unbelievable, isn’t it?” said the captain. “I think they deserve every penny of it and I hope we get some more for them too.”

The funds were to be directed to NHS Charities Together. A spokesperson assured those who had donated that everything they gave would be going straight to the front line to support staff, volunteers and patients both in immediate needs and the long term.

At the beginning of last week, Captain Tom hit a fundraising milestone of £1 million. Even then, it did not stop – three days later, more than 345,000 people from the UK and abroad had donated an incredible £8 million (which is just over $10 million).

Meanwhile, an eight-year-old girl from Wales decided to give something back to Captain Tom by starting a drive to make him 1500 virtual birthday cards before the big day on April 30. She’s also planning an online sing-a-long of “Happy Birthday” right after the nation completes its weekly round of applause for frontline workers in the Clap for Carers campaign.

How did Captain Tom react to the news that his 100 laps had raised so much money? Why, by deciding to walk another 100 laps, of course.

His daughter told reporters that the public had given him his next purpose and she was pretty sure he would keep on looping the yard until he was told to stop. Captain Tom, on the other hand, said he wasn’t planning to stop at all.

By the beginning of this week, Captain Tom’s fundraiser had officially topped £27 million, which is a barely fathomable figure from one man on a walker in his back yard. Half a million people have signed a petition asking the Queen to knight him for his service.

Like so many shining examples of humanity in our own community and afar, Captain Tom isn’t taking this lying down – not when there’s something he can do to help. A man who fought for his country in its darkest hour is once again fighting to preserve its health and wellbeing; a hero, two times over, still serving his people as he reaches the century mark.

And so, because I think he’s earned it, I’ll leave you with some sage advice from Captain Tom, which I like to imagine he yelled over his shoulder as he pottered past on loop number 113:

“You’ve all got to remember that we will get through it in the end, it will all be right. For all those people finding it difficult at the moment, the sun will shine on you again and the clouds will go away.”