Captain Tom Moore saluted by McLaren and so many others
Read on and be uplifted by the actions of a truly magnificent man being celebrated by McLaren and so many others.
Yesterday, we reported that Captain Tom Moore, a huge Formula 1 racing fan and a 99-year-old war veteran, has raised a staggering 27 million pounds for the British National Health Service. In the days that have followed, celebrities, members of the public and members of royalty have all been paying tribute to this remarkable man. Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris and Prince William are just some of the people to have given their thanks. So, read on and be uplifted by the actions of a truly magnificent human being telling us all that tomorrow will be a good day.
Captain Tom Moore has become a global household name, but this was never his intention. Prior to taking on his challenge, walking 100 laps of his garden before his 100th birthday while in lockdown, his aim was to raise £1000 for the British National Health Service. Following appearances on breakfast morning television and radio shows, the Global public (not just the British public) were so inspired that his JustGiving page crashed - as shared by Captain Tom Moore on Instagram:
“100 laps completed! Thank you so much. The JustGiving page has crashed with all your amazing efforts. I salute you all. Incredible and now words fail me. #walkwithtom #TomorrowWillBeAGoodDay”
The humility of this amazing man has led to the total achieved so far exceeding £27million and the donations continue to roll in as do the birthday wishes.
Captain Tom Moore has his 100th birthday on April 30th and thousands of birthday cards have been sent to this history maker. So much so, that in the Royal Mail Processing Centre in Northampton there are several trollies full to the brim with cards and all it says as the address is ‘Captain Tom Moore’ and the sight is the same in many other British Royal Mail Processing Centres as over 25,000 birthday cards have been sent to the much-loved Yorkshireman.
At this point, similarity can be made with the recently departed Sir Stirling Moss when F1 commentator Will Buxton relayed a story of how when asking Sir Stirling Moss for his address the response was:
“You won’t need it dear boy. Hail any black cab and ask for Stirling’s house. It’s part of The Knowledge. At least, it always used to be.”
Therefore, it is fitting that a petition to have Captain Tom Moore also join the knights of the realm has close to a million signatures. So, who knows what the future holds for this great man, but one thing is clear – the Northampton post van drivers will always know where he lives.
Six-time Formula 1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton took to all of his social media platforms to pay tribute:
“What a legend! Captain Tom Moore is a total inspiration raising over £13million [as the amount was at time of writing] for the NHS by walking 100 laps of his garden. I am blown away by his amazing achievement. Congratulations Captain Tom, we could all learn something from you.”
Captain Tom Moore has attempted to reply to as many well-wishers as he can whether they be A-list celebrities leaving video messages of gratitude or members of the public sharing photos of murals or artwork created in tribute. Lewis Hamilton was also one of those to receive a reply:
“Thank you Lewis – I love watching you do your laps @LewisHamilton #walkwithtom #TomorrowWillBeAGoodDay”
Captain Tom Moore has been extremely busy these past few days recording ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ with Michael Ball & The Voices of Care Choir (which went to number 1) and continuing to walk laps of his garden. However, for this motor racing fan, he was certainly not going to miss the call of Lando Norris telling the McLaren ace ‘It’s a pleasure to speak to you.’
"It's an honour to speak to you” Norris would reply "…from my side and everyone at McLaren, we want to say a big congratulations for everything you've done. It's my honour that I get to speak to someone like you, Captain Tom, who has achieved things which very few manage to achieve ever in their lifetime.”
In response, Captain Tom Moore maintaining the humble nature he is now so well known for responded:
“Thank you very much for your kind remarks. I was looking forward to seeing you this season in Formula One but unfortunately, and it must be devastating to you whilst it’s been held off for so long…I've been following F1 and McLaren for years and you're doing better and I was hoping this year you were going to get much higher up the scale.”
Later on, in the seven minute call, Lando Norris would explain how McLaren wished to invite Captain Tom Moore and his family for a tour of the McLaren Technical Center, much to the delight of onlooking grandson Benjie, one of his daughters Hannah and Captain Tom Moore himself:
"Nothing would bring me more pleasure than that…It would be absolutely phenomenal for me to come around McLaren because I've been a McLaren fan for a very long time and I still am."
At a time of such global concern and a feeling of media implemented doom and gloom, the feel-good stories don’t stop there. Yesterday, a video went viral of a taxi driver in Spain who has been taking patients to the hospital free of charge. As usual, he got a call to go to the hospital for a pick-up…but on arrival was met by a guard of honour from applauding doctors and nurses and was presented with an envelope of money and a card of gratitude.
This story has struck a chord with many people the world over, including 2016 Formula One Champion Nico Rosberg who retweeted the viral video and added the comments:
“So powerful! To everyone who continues to support our society and offers help: THANK YOU! You are a big inspiration.”
These stories show us that despite the fact no one knows what the future holds or when this crisis will come to an end the future is still bright. Formula One racing, along with so many other things which we took for granted, will begin again at some point and until that day, as long as people think of others before themself, as Captain Tom Moore has told the world - tomorrow will be a good day!
https://www.motorlat.com/notas/f1/15266/japanese-f1-grand-prix-speculating-the-future
