Captain Sir Tom Moore, the centenarian who is in Barbados fulfilling one of his bucket-list dreams to visit the island is not disappointed that he travelled thousands of miles to get to the island which he says is as beautiful as the pictures he saw before he even got here.
The Second World War veteran, is celebrated in the UK as Captain Tom for raising over $90 million (£33 million) for Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) through embarking on a 100-lap challenge at his Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire, home in the English Midlands.
He said though he is still jetlagged from his British Airways flight to the island last week, he simply cannot get enough of the sun, sea and sand he has always wanted to touch and feel.
He said the beautiful sunshine and charming Barbadians he has met thus far has made the long journey worth taking as much as it did taking the 100 laps of the fundraising walk.
Sir Tom said he is yet to travel around the island enjoying the sights and scenes of the landscape, but told Barbados TODAY during an exclusive interview at the West Coast villa where he and his family are staying that being able to sit outside and enjoy the view of the blue sea and listen to the sound of the waves has been an amazing experience thus far.
“I just want to feel a little bit better, so that I can enjoy more sun and sand and sea. With all of you lovely people, of course, I am quite happy and will continue to be,” a smiling Sir Tom said.
He shared that he has always been a fan of the Caribbean, but declared that he always had it in his mind that Barbados was the jewel of the region.
Sharing his experience about participating in the fundraising event which inspired people around the world, Sir Tom said he felt amazing that at age 99 that he was able to bring comfort and support for the nurses and workers in the NHS. People from 163 countries donated to the cause.
He told Barbados TODAY: “It is really amazing and outstanding that after such a small beginning we got more and more money coming in for the NHS, and now beyond that, with the foundation, we can continue throughout the world trying to help people who are in need, people who are lonely and people who really want to have someone to talk to or somebody just to shake their hand.
“And also if you are passing somebody out on the street smile at them and see what happens. If you don’t get anything sorry for that person because they should be smiling back at you. Smiling doesn’t cost anything. If you can smile at everybody and get everyone to smile back, soon we will have a smiling world.”
While many may wonder how the elderly man managed walking 100 laps around his garden, while recovering from a broken hip he suffered in 2018, Sir Tom said he started with that first step that led to the hundreds of others.
He said: “Once you start, you do a little bit more. When I was walking people were saying what were you thinking, sometimes I was just thinking of never walking alone and continued until that time came closer.”
In mid-April, while still in the process of completing the challenge, he teamed up with singer Michael Ball to record You’ll Never Walk Alone, which he explained was intended to give those in despair hope and encouragement during the coronavirus pandemic.
At a time when centenarians receive congratulatory telegrams from Queen Elizabeth, he found himself witnessing flypasts by the Royal Air Force and the British Army in his honour.
In July, Captain Moore was knighted in Her Majesty’s first official engagement in person since lockdown. The investiture to honour the centenarian was held during a unique ceremony at Windsor Castle. There have been few individual investitures as the ceremony usually takes place with groups. Family members are not usually invited to attend the proceedings.
He said “It is something which you hardly ever expect would happen in your lifetime. It was such an outstanding occasion to be so close to the Queen who very carefully tapped me on the soldier with a very big sword and that was a beautiful day. And which was not normal, all of my family was there. The Queen asked them all to come forward and she spoke to them all and that was unusual. It never ever happened before and as a family, we are grateful for being given this additional honour by Her Majesty the Queen,” he said.
He said it was also a proud moment when a Battle of Britain memorial fly-past was organized to mark his 100th birthday. The elderly man noted that it was interesting to see the iconic Second World War fighters, Spitfires, fly over his home in peacetime, while he has memories of them in dogfights in English skies. Captain Moore said he probably is one of a limited number of people alive on the planet who had heard the aeroplanes’ Merlin engines roar both in anger and in peacetime.
Captain Moore’s second of two children, Hannah Ingram-Moore, further explained that the challenge was initially intended to raise £100 pounds (about $270), but surprisingly generated over £30 million in four weeks and was subsequently handed over to NHS Charities.
“It went directly to support hospitals, nurses, doctors, ancillary staff, it put WiFi on wards, iPads on wards and allowed families who couldn’t leave and families who couldn’t go to connect with each other through technology,” she said.
“It provided beds for the doctors and nurses to rest so that they wouldn’t take COVID home. Although we did not decide because it was not our money, we know that it has done profoundly good things. Over the course of nine months, we talked to doctors and nurses and people who worked in the NHS and they all said we feel your money.”
Sir Tom extended gratitude to British Airways and the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. for making his dream become a reality in the company of his loved ones.
“I thank you because I know we are going to have a lovely time with the sun and the sea and the water,” Captain Tom, said giving thumbs up as he ended the interview.
(anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb)
