Britain's Captain Tom Moore received online abuse in weeks before death

LONDON - Britain's Captain Tom Moore, the World War II veteran who raised millions of pounds for health service workers battling coronavirus, received online abuse in the weeks before he died this month aged 100, his daughter said on Wednesday (Feb 17).

Hannah Ingram-Moore told BBC television the online messages were kept a secret, saying the abuse from "a vile minority" would have broken his heart.

Moore struck a chord with locked-down Britain by walking around his garden with the help of a frame to raise £38.9 million (S$70 million) for the National Health Service.

While he received tens of thousands of supportive messages, there were some that mocked and abused him.

"It was as pretty horrific as it could be," said Ingram-Moore.

"I couldn't tell him because how do you rationalise to a 100-year-old man that something so incredibly good can attract such horror," she said.

"It really did hurt and it really is hard to deal with, but we have dealt with it and they will not win, they will never make this amazing thing negative."

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With a quick wit, Moore brought a simple message of hope and self-sacrifice.

He died on Feb 2 after testing positive for Covid-19 on Jan 22, and he was also fighting pneumonia.

His passing drew condolences from Queen Elizabeth, the British parliament and President Joe Biden's White House.

Calls for social media companies to block users who send abusive messages have grown in recent weeks after several soccer players in England were targeted with racist abuse.