tv Remembering Captain Tom BBC News February 21, 2021 7:30pm-7:46pm GMT
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israelis will have to download a so—called green badge to carry around as proof of inoculation. announcing the scheme last night, prime minister benjamin netanyahu urged israelis to use the pass as a way of getting their lives back. "it's for you." as israel begins to ease restrictions, it is hoped the country's so—far successful vaccination programme of work as a blueprint for other countries hoping to begin their own journeys out of lockdown. nickjohnson, bbc news. the united arab emirates has sent 20,000 covid—i9 sputnik v vaccines to the gaza strip. the russian—made vaccines arrived in gaza via the rafah border crossing with egypt. health offficials in gaza said they would begin vaccination tomorrow, with priority for medical workers and those with chronic diseases. australia's covid—i9 vaccination programme is officially underway —
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but the launch didn't quite go to plan. the country's first recipient was 84—year—old jane malysiak, who received the pfizer—biontech jab at a sydney medical centre. when prime minster scott morrision encouraged her to make a "v for vaccine" sign, she accidentally made a somewhat different gesture instead — much to the amusement of the medical staff. maybe she meant it. who knows? now it's time for a look at the weather with nick miller. hello, it's been a fine day to day for scotland and northern ireland and it will be again tomorrow, whereas there is a weather front in parts of england and wales, which will continue to bring some rain, as it will through the evening and overnight. northern england, wales, the west midlands and the southwest in particular, eastern parts of england staying dry. a mild night across england and wales but temperatures close to freezing in the coldest parts of scotland and northern ireland. under largely skies. bar the odd shower approach in north—west scotland tomorrow, most here again
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will have a fine day. the weather system in england and wales nudges a bit further east. away from wales, northern and western parts of england, as it brightens up a bit but increasingly light and patchy rain edging back towards east anglia and the south—east of england. on another mild day. some very wet weather to come as we go through into tuesday. this is the weather system approaching from the west, especially to northern ireland, into scotland, where there is a risk of flooding, too, affecting wales and western parts of england. the eastern side of england stays dry and becomes very mild. hello, this is bbc news with me, shaun ley. the headlines — a pledge that every adult in the uk will be offered their first dose of coronavirus vaccine by the end ofjuly, a month ahead of schedule. it's because of the success of the vaccine roll out that we are able to do that and that will have an impact on how quickly we will all be able to return to normal, which is obviously what everyone wants to see. borisjohnson meets ministers and scientific advisers to put the final touches to plans to bring
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england out of lockdown. a pioneering breakthough for children needing a heart transplant — a machine that keeps hearts beating outside the body for up to 12 hours. coming up at a quarter to eight p:m., willjoin the team from sports day. now on bbc news, for the first time since captain sir tom moore's death, his family have been speaking to the bbc about his life and legacy, their pride in his achievements and adjusting to life without him. a warning this programme contains flashing images. music. to the outside world, captain sir tom moore was a veteran of the second world war, a record—breaking fundraiser and an icon of our struggle
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with the pandemic. but here at his family home, he was first and foremost a father, a father—in—law and a grandfather. this is my father's shed. there it is. grand dad's fix—it shop. hannah, good to see you. thanks very much for inviting us to talk to you. how are you feeling? how are you and the family getting on? thank you for asking, john. i mean, it's difficult, right? we've lost a fifth. you know, we were five and we've gone to four. and that's really difficult to say.
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we've lost a huge part of our life, you know? we've been together... he's been with us for over 13 years. and so it's the deafening silence, that's the way i can describe it. so, my habit when i come out of my bedroom in the morning is to look left to his to see if his lights are on and if i can hear him moving around, and it's a hard habit to break. but he wouldn't have wanted us to feel sorrow. he just wouldn't. and, look, i'm my father's daughter at the end of the day, and he always said, "when you're gone, you're gone." and he has gone, and we had our lovely goodbyes. i don't feel cheated. none of us feel cheated. we just feel sad. it's an ache because he's here, doing the first flu shot without his things on it. it's really hard. so i really understand, we understand loss. he died in hospital two weeks ago, suffering pneumonia and having tested positive for covid—i9.
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when he went into hospital, we really all believed he'd come back out. we thought that a bit of oxygen would help and that he would be robust enough. the truth is he just wasn't. he was old. and he just couldn't fight it. so, there was a realisation, i think, pretty quickly that he wasn't going to come out. he and i were together, just he and i, and keep in mind that i'm in full ppe, so quite hard for him to have me sitting next to him like that cos it's not, it's not like seeing the real me, is it? so we got through it, and we chatted. we were still able to chat then. and we had some really lovely conversation, and i can... and this was before the final day,
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and i can honestly say the thing that he was so proud of and itjust oozed out of him, he said, "i'm coming back out, there's more fundraising in me yet. and i'm coming back out to walk." and he felt so proud of the foundation. and he hadn't articulated it so passionately before, but he really articulated the pride that he felt in that lasting legacy. his final hours were spent with his family at his bedside, something that hasn't always been possible for many over the past year. i said to him in the last few days, "what are you going to eat when you come back home?" and we decided it was steak and ships. and he really was really excited about coming out for steak and ships. and getting his frame back outside and his walker. and in that last day, when my sister was on facetime, we really did have some super moments together. and we put photographs up and he engaged with us, and it was amazing. desperately sad, desperately, desperately sad. but really good.
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yeah. and really hopeful. he moved here in his mid—80s, with hannah and herfamily arriving at the same time. and he insisted on some modifications, such as a flagpole. and the flag would be hoisted, raised every day or...? no, he'd change it according to how he felt. if there was a major event, he'd change it. obviously the welsh flag. most often, we had the union flag, of course. yeah. and we felt that we should put it to half—mast. their time was precious. i got so much more close to him. it's been amazing. i've sat with him, talking about the army, talking about his favourite songs, all of that that's been so, so special to me and thinking how he's passed away, which is so sad, but these memories
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i will hold forever. we used to go gardening. in the garden, and we used to do stamping, painting, all those sorts of stuff. i | he was feeding the dogs treats, j and then our dog got overweight so he had to say, "no." you had to put your foot down? yeah. life living with the young family rejuvenated him, as did his incredible last year, culminating in a very special audience with her majesty the queen. i've joked to my friends and said honestly if it wasn't for covid—i9, they would've gone off for a cup of tea. and had a good chinwag into the afternoon because it was two similar souls. yeah. and i think she felt genuine loss, and we had a lovely letter from her. and i think that she feels genuine loss. it's another one of her generation, isn't it? the greatest generation. yeah. being thrust into the white heat of public scrutiny has come with a very modern virus, a curse — the vitriol from a small
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minority on social media. we really had to use ourfamily resilience, our emotional resilience. and we never told him, because i don't think he could ever have understood it. i think it would've broken his heart, honestly. if we'd said to him, you know, people are hating us. 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. so we contained it within the four of us. and we said that we won't play to them. we're not talking to those vile minority. we're not, because we're talking to the massive majority of people who we just connect with. and literally when it was pretty horrific as it could be, i didn't tell him. it didn't come close to him,
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but it really did... 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, not ever. we won't let them. 0n the rare occasions captain tom left home, he was able to witness first—hand the love people felt for him. it was just extraordinary. people would say they needed something to lean on. their knees were going. and they would say, "oh, you made my yearjust by seeing the family." and as we walked past mothers and fathers with their babies in their hands, they would be literally picking up their baby saying, "look at my baby." and he did not really know how
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to cope with that, of course, but he loves babies, so he was able to say, "oh, no, he looks so cute." and he meant it, too. but how can i ever prepare you for that? the family was invited to barbados for christmas, a trip from his bucket list, a trip of a long lifetime. and he said before we went, i said, "i think you need some shorts." and he said, "i haven't worn shorts for 30 years. and my legs are too thin." and i said but they're not, anyway nobody cares. nobody cares. you're captain tom, you can do what you like. the most famous legs in the world. yes, fabulous everybody wants to see your legs. so i bought him shorts and new shirts and then literally the day before we were going, i said, "have you got sandals?" and he went, "0h, ithrew them out in 1975."
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the people that we met. i actually had no idea who he was at the start, but russ, one of the finest comedians absent in my entire life. absolutely an honour to meet. and along with that, cliff richard, who was absolutely an honour to meet. he was lovely. and the conversation he had with granddad, it was just gripping really. they really enjoyed each other's company. and that was really lovely to see. and among the surprises, captain tom and his famous walker starred among the stars in london's new year's eve fireworks display. did you know anything about it? yes, we did. because we had to say yes, but, no, we kept it secret from him. so we knew him and we said quick and the quick and have a look. and unbelievable. hejust, he wasjust blown away by it. it was just a great moment, wasn't it? to see out the year. he was thrilled. he nearlyjumped out of his chair. yeah, really, he was thrilled. his name will live on. his was a life most extraordinary. music. i mean, it's really hard. it's really, really hard, the legacy is hope and joy, isn't it? and i think the thing that
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i feel is that other people are grieving, too, for him. and that's amazing. and as much as he touched all his people, and i don't want to pass on to them grief that is unrequited. it's ok. it's ok, i think it's ok to be sad. it's ok to grieve. and we know that you are grieving with us. but let's never lose sight of the fact that for him this was all about "tomorrow will be a good day and will be hopeful", and no reason to sit alone for too long. get on with it. and make a good job of it. laughter. he could not said it to better himself? thanks for lending them to us the last ten months. well, thank you. and there are of course many exciting things to come and we look forward to sharing with you. thank you. well done. hello, and welcome to sportsday. manchester city are head
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and shoulders above the rest as sterling sends them back ten points clear at the top of the premier league. back from the brink — london irish produce an astonishing comeback to hold rugby union premiership leaders bristol bears. and novak djokovic says his ninth australian open title came after one of the toughest tournaments of his career. welcome along to sportsday this sunday evening. it has been a busy day of action for the top teams in the premier league, and manchester city show no sign of stopping their march towards the title. their winning run has moved to 18 games following a 1—0 victory at arsenal. while leicester are up to second after their win at aston villa. joe lynskey reports.
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