Captain Tom aches for old folk left alone
CAPTAIN Sir Tom Moore has said seeing his late wife’s loneliness as she was treated in hospital struck him “right to the heart”.
Pamela, the Second World War veteran’s spouse of more than 50 years, died in 2006 after developing dementia.
The centenarian, who raised more than £ 32 million for the NHS doing laps of his Bedfordshire garden, said seeing elderly patients without visitors had affected him deeply.
He told The Big Issue: “My wife was in hospital for several years. One day she said ‘If you didn’t come and see me, I would be very lonely’. That struck me right to the heart.
“There were loads there who never, ever had visitors, day after day, year after year. They must have been very, very lonely.”