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98-year-old British war veteran recovers from coronavirus

‘I felt very special when they gave me a clap and a cheer,’ says Douglas Moore 

Colin Drury
Saturday 25 April 2020 18:02 BST
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Douglas Moore with grandson Lee Tuffin
Douglas Moore with grandson Lee Tuffin

A 98-year-old Second World War veteran has left hospital after recovering from coronavirus.

Douglas Moore, of Wellingborough, sent Covid-19 packing despite also having a lung condition.

The retired accountant received a round of applause from staff at Kettering General Hospital when he was discharged on Wednesday.

“I felt very special when they gave me a clap and a cheer,” he said. “I think they are all absolutely wonderful and the hospital is wonderful too.”

Mr Moore – who served in Egypt during the war – was admitted to hospital after suffering a fall at home on 15 April but he was found to have Covid-19 while there.

Grandson Lee Tuffin, said “You hear it and you just think that’s it. You sort of prepare for the worst because you never really hear about light at the end of the tunnel.

“He beat the odds, 100 per cent. It just goes to show, never give up. He’s a proper battler and always stays positive.”

The veteran spent six days with the illness before recovering. He managed to avoid having to be taken into intensive care.

Daughter Margaret Tuffin, who lives with her father, said: “Now he’s home he likes to sit in the garden and watch the world go by and enjoys watching the wildlife.”

Ward sister Lucy Elliott, from the hospital, paid tribute to Mr Moore.

“We were just so impressed,” she said. “He was lovely to look after and a very nice chap.

“We wanted to give him a good send-off, so we did him a clap with all the team as he went off in his wheelchair to the ambulance to take him home.”

Yet even the 98-year-old is a relative youngster compared with the UK's oldest patient to recovere from Covid-19.

Connie Titchen, 106, spent three weeks with the virus before being given a clean bill of health at Birmingham City hospital last week.

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