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Seeing a lot of "He deserved a free holiday after all he's done for the NHS, it was probably the last trip he'll ever go on at his age! I say good for him for completing his bucket list wishes before he dies" discourse and I have some points to make.
First & foremost: the NHS is not a charity and should not be treated as such. It should NEVER have gotten to the point of being so underfunded that an elderly man had to walk laps in his garden to raise money. It was an easy way for the government to get out of their duty to us.
Secondly, the fact so many in the elderly generation have the mindset of "well if I get it, I get it, I've lived my life" is part of the reason the virus has spread like wildfire and why there are so many elderly people taking up hospital space putting pressure on the NHS...
...Yes, Captain Tom might be 100, he might have lived his life, but what about others he may come into contact with whilst carrying the virus? Like the doctors and hospital staff who will be coming into contact with him over the next few days treating him? What about their lives?
Thirdly, Captain Tom is 100 years old. Nobody would have even heard of him if it weren't for his family pushing him to become a public figure, which has given him the privilege of free holidays...
...so whilst he and his family were able to go on a free vacation to Barbados, everyone else was at home following the rules to protect the NHS - the same NHS that he became hailed as a hero for when he was doing laps in his garden back in April...
...and whilst I know he didn't specifically catch the virus during what was nothing more than an incredibly selfish and entitled escape during a literal pandemic, it is the principle that he did that. And now he is in hospital with Covid-19. He has become a strain on the NHS...
...the NHS we were trying to protect. As a direct result of people catching Covid and becoming hospitalised, some due to genuine bad luck and others due to poor, selfish decisions, hospitals are reaching capacity, and this means cancer treatments are being put on hold...
My grandad is one of those cancer patients whose treatment is now being affected. We haven't been able to see him since before Christmas. But hey, at least Sir Tom got to go to Barbados before his time is up, & is no doubt receiving the best care possible because he is privileged
So please forgive me for having little to no sympathy for an old codger with a wealthy family who have all profited off of a global pandemic in the name of "war hero" culture and British nationalism.
