Captain Tom Moore inspired millions. The NHS inspired him | Gaby Hinsliff

The heroic fundraiser has died days after contracting Covid. He taught us all about giving something back

Every death in a pandemic is tragic, and every loss is mourned. But even in these days when so many families are grieving, there is something particularly cruel about the news of Captain Sir Tom Moore's death, shortly after contracting Covid.

The 100-year-old former soldier, and his indomitable efforts to raise money for NHS charities, by making laps of his garden on a walking frame, were a rare ray of light in last year's gloom. It was his optimism, as much as the quiet stoicism often found in war veterans who have seen what he must have seen, that captured imaginations. His constant refrain that the sun would eventually come out, that tomorrow would be better, that together we could achieve miracles, resonated at a time when people sorely needed to hear it.