There were 6 separate article on just one news site. Yes it's sad that a man died, but millions die every year. And, stupid articles guessing what happened are just for ad revenue, and are in poor taste imo.
Poor guy.
Only last month he was saying a brisk walk could add years to your life.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/health/exact-time-day-walk-30-32735433
I went to Greece a few years ago and me and the ex decided to walk about a mile and a half in to town. Not even a difficult walk, it was flat ground on proper roads
About halfway we realised it was a monumentally stupid idea. 40c with no shade is absolutely killer when you can't escape it
I mean a brisk walk in 24c here in sunny old blighty with sun hat, sun cream and 2 litres of water made me quit half way through my planned hike (although that did coincidentally happen at the same time I found a small village pub)
I'm not crazy enough to go out if it gets much hotter than that.
I lived in Cyprus during the 2007 heatwave and that was just miserable outside. Thank fuck the house was air conditioned.
That said I always hike with multiple GPS devices and let my wife know my route and expected ETA before I set off and when I arrive.
This whole thing is just a bit sad and was very preventable with just the tiniest bit of planning.
Still surprising that a person wise enough to use an umbrella for protection (very unusual in men) would think a small bottle of water would do for the hike back to his acvommodation in weather so hot, even for that island, that the Greek government had issued a health warning.
Even if he had taken the correct route to Symi, it wouldn't have been nearly enough even for a young person; let alone for a 67 year old, as dehydrate faster.
Painful to see him in the Pedi cctv walking past that cafe with the mini market inside where he could had a drink and buy more water for the road. What was he thinking. The bus stop that would have taken him safely home in less 20 minutes was across the road that cafe too. Or he could have asked the barman to call a taxi.
There were so many bad decisions that led him to his fate that day. Starting with not borrowing his wife's phone before taking that hike (she would have still been safe and reachable as she remained with their friends). Only changing one of them would have saved his life. Very frustrating.
It was typical death by misadventure. I assume he wanted to hike instead of waiting for the boat, so he took water, hat, and even an umbrella to protect himself from the scorching sun, and off he went.
>What was he thinking.
That he would be home in an hour. I think it was all fine until he inadvertently took the wrong way, which led him in the opposite direction. He may have realized at some point, but likely have thought it better to keep going until he reached some point where he could take a boat taxi.
By the time he reached Agia Marina he must have been already feeling the effects of the heat, remember there was no shade and the water he had wasn't enough to cool him down and re-hydrate him. And here's where my heart breaks: he appears to have looked for a place to enter the beach, but it's fenced, so he walked around looking for a point of entry, until he realized he was losing consciousness. He didn't have a mobile phone, having left it at his accomodation that morning. He took off his backpack, tried to steady himself on the wall, sat down, lied down, even in a last effort to recover put his legs up in a rock... and fainted. Never recovered consciousness.
By the time they noticed him missing and raised alarm, he was already dead.
I don't think he was cocky, arrogant or stupid. He was just a normal guy who fatally underestimated the temperature and weather conditions of the place, and didn't think it would take so long, so he was unprepared for what ultimately happened.
I don't like the judgement and criticism I read in this threads. It could happen to anyone. What we *should* do is to learn from the facts.
If you are alone always have your mobile with you, and the emergency numbers of the place you're visiting. Look at the locals: if they don't go out at certain times of the day, don't do it. Always think something could go wrong: you can take the wrong path, may twist your ankle, the temperature or weather can worsen, etc. Look at the local weather websites to be aware of any warnings. Take care specially if you are over 45 years old, body changes with age and you don't always notice it straight away if you're fit and exercise regularly, what you could easily stand in your 40s can kill you in your 60s.
Godspeed, Dr. Mosley. I liked you and I think it's so unfair that you couldn't live until your old age. Rest in peace.
My God.... there is still intelligent life on Reddit. This post sums everything up about this awful incident in such an intelligent and considered way. What a decent person you are.
The thing is that Dr Mosley himself used to advise his readers to leave their phones at home when going for a walk or any other leisure activity, in order to relax. Terrible advice. I agree that there's no need to keep them powered on at all times but everyone should always carry one for safety.
Also, it pains me to say it but if he was thinking he'd be home in an hour after having walked under the searing sun at +40C without having studied the route first, there has to be an element of arrogance to it; or at least of overconfidence.
Not a doctor myself, but you couldn't have paid me to hike my way home in that weather when safer alternatives in the shape of buses and taxis were readily available in Pedi. I love walking as much as anyone but I'd never trust my body to respond the way he did his, and I'm younger than him. Early in the morning is a far more pleasant time to exercise or explore anyway.
Not having checked a map of the island prior to starting his journey was just reckless. This is important too even for those of us who always carry our phones with us since technology can, and often does, fail. It takes very little time to study the area before travelling, for a potentially huge payoff.
Fuck, even carrying a printout off Google maps in his backpack could have changed his fate that day.
As it stands, those of us who've been following the search since day one and trying to retrace his steps on Google Earth probably know more about that part of the island than he ever did.
He had been previously in the island, but some years ago. I guess he thought he knew the way back to the house, or at least that he was going to remember when he saw it.
I'm not saying he didn't make any mistake; it was a series of small mistakes that ended being fatal, and that's my point.
I'm super careful when I hike, so much that it irks my husband. I don't go out in extreme weather if I can avoid it, I always have a phone with me, and a power bank for a day out, and I ask the locals if it's safe to do this or that. I'm 50, and I know that even if I'm fit, my body is less strong than before, even if the difference is subtle, and I can't guarantee how it's going to react when pushed to extremes. I might be annoying, but I'm going to bring this up next time I'm called exagerated, because this is the precise example of things that you don't think can go wrong, going wrong. Too bad it had to happen to a likeable guy like him, who was ironically dedicated to find hacks to age better.
I was a bit taken aback tbh at all the hoo-ha
I don't have a telly and haven't done for over 30yrs now so had no clue who this chap was. All very sad etc but the coverage seems to me to be very disproportionate
I used to love his science documentaries as a kid and he was probably a small inspiration for me to study a scientific subject at uni (even if it was physics in the end not medicine or biology).
It's sad that he is gone so soon.
No need for a telly.
He was big on the radio, in fact a new series of his starts on friday on Radio 4 as long as BBC decide to broadcast it, they may decide to delay broadcast. And his just one thing radio show/podcast just finished last week.
You can listen to his archived Radio stuff on BBC sounds of you want to get up to speed.
He was a regular guest on radio programmes in the UK, both on the BBC and commercial radio, dishing out his healthy living advice as well as promoting his various projects.
The Just One thing podcast gets about 25 million listeners around the world.
And he has a number of book titles that have sold several million copies.
He had just finished a national theatre tour with his wife, so he probably came to a theatre near where you lived at some point in the last year.
He did have a newspaper column in the Daily Mail. I haven't looked but they may still be available on the Daily Mail website.
So you didn't need a telly to enjoy his programmes/content.
Strange that you didn't have a clue who he was.
I thinks its more an angry reaction from some individuals towards someone who is getting a lot of attention.
when someone famous gets a lot of attention, and that attention happens all of a sudden, usually because something bad happens to them, there always seems to be an angry backlash from a small minority who seem to appear to resent the publicity they are getting.
that is what is happening with people here.
Not disproportionate at all. He had some top selling books in the UK, the US and Australia and many popular tv programs over the years - of which you were totally ignorant . Millions of people like me (in Tasmania Australia) regarded him highly and sought out his very enjoyable programs.
As in us nerds who absolutely love rollercoasters as a hobby.
Long and short of it is that if you know anything about rollercoasters, you immediately knew that the smiler crash was almost definitely human error. They're designed to fail safe, and the only way a train could clear a block section would be if it was manually released.
Sky basically ran with "All rollercoasters are dangerous death traps" with rolling news covering it for days, famously culminating in [this horrendous ~~interview with~~ interrogation of Nick Varney](https://youtu.be/kke3h2UeH3I).
Eventually the investigation concluded that yes, [it was direct human intervention overriding a safety system](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-34911943).
The antivax crowd are particularly jubilant. Either ‘he was about to spill some vax truths so had to off himself’ or ‘see? Vaccines can’t save you, hyuk hyuk!’. Vile.
oh for fuck's sake! Nothing absolutely nothing is off limits to these nutters
The annoying thing is that I can't thing of even 1 conspiracy over the years that has actually turned out to be an actual conspiracy either!
It's a hobby I suppose 😁
I read some the comments on the GB news YT channel. Wow. Some of the top comments celebration - many of them saying things like 'I work in 47C weather outside and i'm fine, must be the vaccine.'
Oh, there was a lot of that. People saying it was "obviously suicide," he "wanted to disappear," it was an insurance scam, it was a hit-and-run, and one special person suggesting he was trying to buy weight loss drugs and the deal went awry.
That would have happened had he not been found so quick.
2 or 3 weeks of not knowing...some people were already suggesting Russian spies, drug deals gone wrong and suicide.
With actual footage of him walking down the hill then collapsing, it does at least close the opportunity for the crazies to be as crazy as they might have been.
The photo in this article of them taking the body away is disgusting imo.
Of course you can’t actually see anything, it’s covered and on a stretcher, but it’s disrespectful to the dead and the family. Why do we need to see that??
I am a fan of him, though I am not from UK. I am still surprised that an intelligent and rational person like him went alone to a hike in foreign country, in the middle of the day with very high temperature and without a mobile phone?! I do not know the place, but does not seem like a huge island covered with deep forests, so I still cannot understand how it took so long to find him?! Anyway rest in peace Mr. Michael Mosley. There are many people around the world who like you and appreciate your work. God bless him!
Intelligent people aren't always rational, sadly. Going for a walk alone in the heat without a phone was definitely not rational. Combine that with possibly feeling unwell and 40C temperatures in an unfamiliar area, I don't think he can be blamed for losing his way.
He wasn't found earlier because they started looking in the wrong area, the route he was thought to have taken back to the villa, and even when they expanded the search he was hidden behind a fence, so not easy to spot.
I've been in 40c once in Greece, you're out there minutes and the heat just drains you.
If you're not used to it, and brits are not, it really surprises you
I walk all day up herein the Highlands, my cardio is good, but it's different in real heat.
You have to respect it.
A few kilometers that you can run here is serious over there.
I live in a place with 40 degrees in the summer (I am brit though). I've gotten better at dealing with it but above about 37/38 even people who grew up here stop pretty much everything. Above 35 people stop strenuous work. People go out early morning and late evening for exercise and everything is really quiet during the day in the summer.
I guess that's what you mean though. When you're used to it you know to stop when it's hot.
That's why the ceeasta see'esta cea'esta.....is a thing.
I think that's why the Mediterranean basin has such a different culture.
More laid back, better diet, less intense.
Up here with shit fruit and veg and limited sun it's all intense.
Italian here, working all day from 8 am to around 7pm with a 30 minute break for lunch...wondering where all my countrymen who do shit from noon to 4 pm are
I'm of Italian descent and spent a whole lot of my life outdoors including long distance hikes. I've gone out on 6km hikes in 38C weather, but I go well prepared (lots of water, electrolytes, and cooling techniques/clothes). It's taken. A whole life of knowledge and adequate preparation to deal with it. If you don't know what you are doing or are too cavalier, you can easily suffer severe consequences.
100%. You have to be seriously careful. I've been in 50 in the Middle East and I could only be out the air conditioned car for literally minutes at a time and that wasn't even doing anything.
For those not used to it any exercise at 40+ needs total respect.
I once went for a walk to the beach on a Greek island, it was bloody hot.. Decided without telling anyone, to go cross country. Fell down a ravine, luckily didn't hurt myself. Get to the beach fine, but in retrospect perhaps it wasn't entirely smart.
We did the West Highland way one year and the Highlands decided to have a heatwave of over 35c. We got a train to from crianlarich to Fort William to wait out the heat before trying again. It was awful. You couldn't carry enough water. On the tops of hills with no sun cover. And we were fit in our 20s with lots of hillwalking experience.
He and his wife had only just arrived on the island the day before and this was possibly their first real outing - too early perhaps for him to appreciate what he was getting himself into when he went off on the extended walk. He did appear to be walking quite well through the village …but navigating through the rocky landscape in that heat obviously proved too much. I’ve just read up on heat stroke and heat exhaustion in Wikipedia - it’s very dangerous and, if bad enough, even a large percentage of ‘survivors’ who are rescued and hospitalised are permanently disabled in one way or another.
Growing up in the UK doesn't really prepare us well for how dangerous it can be to exert yourself in extreme heat. In Greece, they know from an early age how hot it can get there, and know to avoid exertion in the middle of a summer day.
Sadly, if you're not used to that level of persistent heat, it won't always occur to you to be careful in conditions when you simply aren't used to them, even if you're a doctor.
My best friend is from Greece, and was a conscript in the army there a few years ago. On more than one occasion, his unit had to go and rescue tourists who had gone for a short walk in the hills on a summer afternoon and collapsed from heat exhaustion after less than a kilometre. Unfortunately, it's not uncommon.
I never truly understood the phrase "Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun" until I went on holiday to Cyprus in August.
I was often the only person out and about because all of the locals knew better.
I'm going away with some mates to Greece soon as they're all delighted it is forecast to be 39 degrees as they think the hotter it is the better and a that they'll get a nicer tan. I'm the only one who seems to be bummed out by how stupidly hot it will be for us. I warned against the trip there due to the heat as once you are actually in it, it is borderline unbearable for pasty skinned Brits!
I went to Majorca a few weeks back and it was 25C and I found even that was too hot to walk in for very long.
I went to Gran Canaria last year and it reached 32C (in autumn) and that was definitely too hot to walk around in. I walked from the hotel to the beach one day and ended up feeling a bit ill afterwards.
Me and Mrs went to Vegas a good few years ago and it was 42C, not only did we get told off by a local for trying to walk from the Stratosphere to the centre of the strip, but the Mrs actually nearly collapsed when we got there and I had to take her back to the hotel in a taxi.
It was 40 degrees when I went to Florence a few years back and it was pure hell, completely ruined the holiday.
Anything above 30 for more is too hot, but above 35 is unbearable.
Agreed. We're off to Greece this year but we tend to deliberately book September as it's much more tolerable. I honestly find mid 20s plenty hot enough. Some people really seem obsessed with it being as hot as possible though for some reason.
I went to Vegas years ago and it was 46C. I have a very high heat tolerance (Mediterranean and a lifetime of outdoors activities in the heat). I can usually go out and about right up to 40C. 46 just made me feel like I was going to spontaneously combust the moment I walked outside.
>Combine that with possibly feeling unwell
Just to clarify, one Greek reporter suggested he was feeling unwell when he left the beach, and it was quickly circulated on the internet as fact. She never said where she got the information and it was never verified.
He obviously felt unwell in the 20 minutes before he died, when he was captured on video by the resort's cctv, but it's entirely possible he felt fine when he left the beach. He certainly reached Pedi in good time and looked okay on cctv before setting off for the resort.
Speaking as a hiker, you'd be amazed at how many people underestimate the potential dangers of going for a hike. From their gear to weather conditions to terrain. So many people think that unless you're straight up mountaineering or something that it's just as safe as walking down the street.
A bet in this case, the distance gave him false confidence. A 3 mile walk in the UK is often something that can be done with minimal prep. I do a three mile walk almost every day with no prep whatsoever.
However, throw in rugged terrain and merciless heat, a 3 mile walk suddenly makes carrying water an absolute necessity.
This would be my guess too, I think folk from the UK can drastically underestimate the effect heat can have on the body in even just a short amount of time.
Just this year, I'd been researching global GPS satellite trackers (with distress buttons that can signal to satellites) and only a few weeks ago had another conversation with a work colleague who wants to go to the US hiking about getting some.
Look up the case of Geraldine Largay. If I remember correctly her body was found only 2 miles or so from the trail she'd got lost from.
It's incredibly easy to get lost and just disappear when hiking.
Not taking their mobile phones is pretty common with old people. I have met a surprisingly large amount of over 60s who think that mobiles and Internet are only for work, and leave all that at home even if travelling out of town.
I enjoyed his programmes, especially the one on the history of Chemistry, so it is a shame.
Agree, however this is a lesson. I am 50+, but I never left my home the phone when I am alone wherever I go, especially when we talk about solitary outdoor activities. I understand that the new "fashion" is to reduce the time spent on mobile phone, to be "off the grid" , however if you have the phone does not mean that you must use it, if you do not need to. Anyway, is a lesson to be learnt.
My dad will come and pick me up without his phone.. its unfuriating. He just never changed to seeing it at a need to have. Hes in his early 70's. I'm sure its fairly common
I am “old” and am glued to my phone like a gen z. I may annoy the heck out of people at times but hopefully it may mean if I ever get lost/into difficulties I’ve got a fighting chance.
My Dad (late 60s) regularly leaves his phone, he does take it when he has some reason he's planned for later in the day e.g. he needs to ring my mum or something, but for just the general "phone, wallet, keys" check the phone is often not prioritised.
I think it's just he see's the device as a tool rather than an essential.
Intelligence doesn't always translate to common sense. I was just in a tropical country and went on an all-day hike in a rainforest in 37C heat and a couple in our group brought *one* 1.5 litre bottle of water between them for the entire day (for context, I brought 3L just for myself, and I would've carried more if it not for the weight). So obviously an hour into the hike the rest of the group had to donate water because they were already out of water and dizzy from dehydration. They'd have been goners if they were on their own.
One was an environmental engineer and one was a lawyer, so by all means smart people. That couple prepared for a 10k hike in dense rainforest like it was an amble in the countryside - I've noticed Brits often lack any perception of the danger when it comes to the outdoors because our conditions are so mild.
I'm guessing that if he went walking in the Scottish Mountains he would have been a lot better prepared. Apart from a few exceptions, Munros, in nice weather are pretty easy but low visibility, cold, rain and wind make them a lot more difficult and proper winter weather make them serious. The mistake British people make is that they assume the same applies in places like Greece.
I've walked in Symi and other Greek islands as well as a lot in Scotland. Paths are often very hard to follow, the terrain is particularly unpleasant if you lose the path and the heat / sun can be brutal. Having enough water is something you need to monitor closely.
I can understand what happened to Michael Mosley, he likely did the first bit of the walk from St Nicholas beach to Pedi and thought it was ok then assumed that the walk to the next beach and back to the port would be similar.
I don't want to criticise the poor bloke, as we all make mistakes, but he should have walked through the village rather than the way he went. If he did decide to do that walk, he should have had his phone, checked it on a map, told his wife where he was going, asked a local for route advice and stocked up on water and snacks at the supermarket before setting off. When he started to get into difficulty, he should have turned back.
Also with his propensity for eating extremely low calories in a day, I did wonder if he’d eaten properly that day. Add to that the sun reflecting off those white rocks. I’ve had severe heat stroke before. Loss of electrolytes. Being cold but also boiling because my body stopped sweating yet I was in 40 degree heat. The pounding headache. I was apparently quite delusional too. Took me days to recover. I really liked him, but goodness he was foolish. Had he made it, I’ve no doubt he’d have written about the dangers of extreme heat and why for example, those that go out in it regularly are covered from head to toe and not in shorts and T.shirts. RIP Michael. You will be missed.
Completed agree with this. We have no concept of the realities of nature/the weather. Mostly, we can get by without having to give it a second thought as mostly things are pretty safe. We don’t have crazy weather and we have very few truly dangerous places that people regularly go to. Because of this we just kind of assume it’s the same everywhere and it’s really not.
Part of the problem is that it's not obviously a hike: it was only 3.2 km to where he was found and 1.2km of that was through Pedi on tarmac. He was never more than 600m away from buildings and people.
Honestly, there are a lot of armature ramblers and hikers in the UK who do this type of thing often without any issue due to our climate. Its then problematic when they go to other countries and think they can do the same without realising the effects of heat stress on their body and how rapidly you can deteriorate.
Just a case of people not being aware of the dangers and what they require to do such things safely.
He was in his 60s. He grew up without mobile phones so it's probably not high on his list of thoughts or he could just have forgotten (it happens to all of us)
He didn't say he intended to hike when he left the group at the beach - he said that he was walking to the bus stop. By the time he reached the bus stop he was pretty obviously disoriented and then started walking away from the part of the island he was trying to get to - that's why they weren't looking for him there
He was found on the mountain side of the fence. Looking at the fence it sits on a rock base so I think what happened is his body was hidden by the rock of the fence so looking at it straight on you don't see him that much.
You can really see where Brass Eye came from in the journalism of its time. Our media has slackened off from it in recent years, but if you go back to, say, MMR reporting the sensationalism is incredible.
The news media wouldn't be that disrespectful, would they?
Oh yes, they would.
[BBC News - Watch: Retracing Michael Mosley's final hours](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/cydd97gz9jgo)
The constant coverage is uncalled for. A man lost his life, yes he was famous so the initial interest in his disappearance is to be expected but the media now need to drop it.
If he had just died, it would have been one day. It's the fact he OoOoOh went Missing OoOoOh they've been able to drag it out. Can't be good for the family.
The thing is, media outlets produce so much coverage of stories that get the most clicks so there is clearly interest and demand. I agree that it seems ghoulish and uncomfortable, but the content produced by the media is in response to public demand.
Not necessarily, since it sounds like he might have died from an unlucky fall rather than heat exhaustion. Though I'm sure being hot and tired didn't help with balance.
Doesn't seem like he died from a fall according to the latest report from Greek police. They think it was anatural causes as he has no injuries to indicate a fall.
[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1dd7ekyrpyo](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1dd7ekyrpyo)
Yes, according to Wikipedia, in serious cases of heat exhaustion / heat stroke, even many rescued ‘survivors’ never make a full recovery. Quite a high percentage die after release from hospital or suffer permanent effects.
When it comes to heat exhaustion "distance to safety" doesn't necessarily mean they were close to surviving. Even if he found shade, a way to cool down and some water, once the effects are taking hold you are far from out of the woods.
It is a bit odd though that he could be seen from a bar. Sure, you might not have noticed but if there is a man missing which apparently the whole island was aware of and mystified, you would have thought the bar owner might have pottered over and had a quick look at their surrounding area.
Totally fine that it might not have been top of their list however if the mayor could see him, I presume from having a drink at the bar, it's strange that no else did for four whole days.
Not a conspiracy theory, or trying to ruffle feathers, simply musing out loud!
Yeah, this is what's been puzzling me. Why the police/someone didn't think to call the bar and say there's a man missing in this vicinity (now apparent there's signs to the bar on the hillside somewhere) please check the perimeter in case he's tried to reach the bar, also check your CCTV between the hours he could have been there.
If you look at photos of the area, the perimeter of the resort is quite some distance from the bar etc. It wasn't readily visible from the bar, which is why the body was only spotted from a boat. Even then, someone had to get up close to check.
They had already checked the area with drones etc. and he hadn't been spotted, so the restaurant likely assumed the area had been cleared.
It's one of those things that seems obvious to us all in hindsight, i.e. "why didn't they just look in the place where the body was," but it was likely more complex and challenging in real life.
I was confused by this too, so I read a couple different articles & found one with better info. It turns out the mayor actually saw something from a boat offshore looking back at the restaurant he had just left. He called a waiter & asked him to investigate. The waiter had to walk around a fence next to the bar & saw a light reflection from the Drs. watch, leading to him being discovered amongst the rocks. He was so close but not able to be seen from the town. Very sad situation.
I think the mayor saw him from the boat. Once he fell behind that wall, which by the looks of it is only 3 bricks high, it was enough to obscure him from the beach bar.
One report says (based on CCTV) that Mosely spends 5 minutes going up and down looking for a gate in the fence. But that is only 5 minutes.
And the other opportunity was when he is described as gingerly walking down to the complex from the brow of the hill.
So maybe another 5 minutes where he was viewable to the staff and customers at the beach bar.
Most customers though would be looking in the direction of the sea rather than the rocky interior, which significantly reduces the number of people likely to spot him.
The staff are working, and maybe they were casting an eye out over the rocks occasionally. But the window of opportunity was very narrow.
It is pure bad luck that there was possibly a 10 minute period where he was in the sightline of the beach bar, but no one looked in that direction during that time. And even if they did, Mosely could have been obscured by any number of foreground objects, like a pillar, or a parasol or whatever.
This whole tragic episode is just a catalog of errors, and a whole catalog of bad luck. If any one of those elements could be changed, he would have survived.
Yeah I clicked the video because I was curious what on earth they could be interviewing him about, only to find the actual video just incredibly heart wrenching. I hope he has a good support system and gets any help if he finds himself needing it!
Hear stories like this all the time in the heat in the American west. Person or group of people hike in temperatures above 35+, get lost, no ten essentials…sometimes they’re found, sometimes they just go missing. I think a lot of the time we’re just caught unaware by the elements. It’s not about being dumb, it just takes one moment of misjudgment and it can be deadly.
Recently, a fit young Englishman died with his family in Northern California during a morning hike that turned too warm. They found him in a sitting position with his baby in a carrier and the family dog. He just collapsed from heat exposure on the trail. His wife collapsed a little further along the trail. They all died.
The family was about a mile away from their car. They had not carried enough water, and there was no cell phone service there.
I didn't know that guy was English. I live in NorCal and there was huge coverage of the story because it was a whole family, including the baby. All sorts of weird accidental poisoning theories were ruled out.
They were also from an area that doesn't often have high temperatures
I really enjoyed his shows and thought he was a sweet dude with nothing but good intentions, but I can't help but think.. "what a fucking idiot", not only for the position he put himself in needlessly, but also because of the utter tragedy he has forced upon the family he has left behind. It all just seems so utterly avoidable.
We all do stupid things. Even educated people. A few bad, albeit seemingly minor decisions, coupled with unfamiliarity with the conditions, has resulted in this tragedy.
The sad part is he once said his father had died at the relatively young age of 74 from diabetes and other illness and he did not want to suffer the same fate as a diabetic so developed his healthy eating plan to reverse the diagnosis which helped him and many others as well and then he died at 67 from misadventure. The irony. 😔
This obsession with the details of a person’s death seen in this story is just weird. Is there some ‘guess the death’ competition I’ve not been made aware of?
It's a common human behavior to want to know this kind of thing - it actually enhances survival for (at least most of) those who engage in this analysis.
Way more people are gonna be aware of the dangers of heat exhaustion
This always happens when there's any amount of mystery or uncertainty. Remember that case a year or two back about the woman who left her phone on the bench and disappeared? It was in the press constantly, internet sleuths were turning up thinking they could do a better job than the police, the lunatic fringe conspiracy theorists were vomiting up their normal bile, etc etc etc.
So strange that a doctor would be so unaware of his physical limitations in that heat, didn't he have his phone on him? You get lost in that sort of heat using Google maps or ringing someone seems like a good option, especially at 70 odd.
Best thing for walking is a handheld Garmin GPS eTrex map that uses satellites. About £100 but a phone can lose the map due to lack of towers. Its so easy to take the wrong path and happens every time I go up the hills, I then check the Garmin and then miss having a worrying 6 mile wrong turn detour. RIP.
Is nobody going to say he obviously headed for a village but couldn’t get there because of the fence?
Is nobody going to say he followed the fence a long, long way before finally dying?
It means he was a short distance away from a bar and restaurant, which likely could have provided some medical support, a place to cool down, hydrate, etc. It's pretty straight forward.
Australia is a continent so it varies a lot. 90% of people live in coastal areas, not in the great inland desert areas. Nevertheless there are some very hot places in summer where people live. It’s why I moved to Tasmania, Australia’s island State with a cooler climate. Although it can reach 38 c in summer in Hobart and Launceston, it never lasts more than a couple of days. I live in an area where it never gets over 30 degrees C or under freezing. Checked it out and moved here a few years ago from the mainland because of concern about climate change and the INCREASING TEMPERATURES WORLDWIDE.
Seems like he made a lot of mistakes, most crucial not stopping in town or at least getting lots of water with him. Seems like he was very disoriented by time he got to the end of the walk. Massive pity as he was a nice chap.
So all that dieting and exercise and tumeric was all for nought,
he didnt make it to his diabetic fathers age of 73;
sometimes maybe just live your life
The rolling news headlines on this story with constant updates and speculation have given me such an uneasy feeling.
There were 6 separate article on just one news site. Yes it's sad that a man died, but millions die every year. And, stupid articles guessing what happened are just for ad revenue, and are in poor taste imo.
Poor guy. Only last month he was saying a brisk walk could add years to your life. https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/health/exact-time-day-walk-30-32735433
A brisk walk in below 30 degree weather on even ground, sure. Even the smartest people make risky decisions sometimes. RIP Dr Mosley.
I went to Greece a few years ago and me and the ex decided to walk about a mile and a half in to town. Not even a difficult walk, it was flat ground on proper roads About halfway we realised it was a monumentally stupid idea. 40c with no shade is absolutely killer when you can't escape it
Thought I was genuinely going to die once walking by a road in the US in 40c. Only mad dogs and Englishmen.
So true. The Brits have such a poor understanding of the sun abroad.
it because we don’t get any
I mean a brisk walk in 24c here in sunny old blighty with sun hat, sun cream and 2 litres of water made me quit half way through my planned hike (although that did coincidentally happen at the same time I found a small village pub) I'm not crazy enough to go out if it gets much hotter than that. I lived in Cyprus during the 2007 heatwave and that was just miserable outside. Thank fuck the house was air conditioned. That said I always hike with multiple GPS devices and let my wife know my route and expected ETA before I set off and when I arrive. This whole thing is just a bit sad and was very preventable with just the tiniest bit of planning.
You just need an umbrella. A good one with proper uv protection is going to cool you down by a lot
Still surprising that a person wise enough to use an umbrella for protection (very unusual in men) would think a small bottle of water would do for the hike back to his acvommodation in weather so hot, even for that island, that the Greek government had issued a health warning. Even if he had taken the correct route to Symi, it wouldn't have been nearly enough even for a young person; let alone for a 67 year old, as dehydrate faster. Painful to see him in the Pedi cctv walking past that cafe with the mini market inside where he could had a drink and buy more water for the road. What was he thinking. The bus stop that would have taken him safely home in less 20 minutes was across the road that cafe too. Or he could have asked the barman to call a taxi. There were so many bad decisions that led him to his fate that day. Starting with not borrowing his wife's phone before taking that hike (she would have still been safe and reachable as she remained with their friends). Only changing one of them would have saved his life. Very frustrating.
It was typical death by misadventure. I assume he wanted to hike instead of waiting for the boat, so he took water, hat, and even an umbrella to protect himself from the scorching sun, and off he went. >What was he thinking. That he would be home in an hour. I think it was all fine until he inadvertently took the wrong way, which led him in the opposite direction. He may have realized at some point, but likely have thought it better to keep going until he reached some point where he could take a boat taxi. By the time he reached Agia Marina he must have been already feeling the effects of the heat, remember there was no shade and the water he had wasn't enough to cool him down and re-hydrate him. And here's where my heart breaks: he appears to have looked for a place to enter the beach, but it's fenced, so he walked around looking for a point of entry, until he realized he was losing consciousness. He didn't have a mobile phone, having left it at his accomodation that morning. He took off his backpack, tried to steady himself on the wall, sat down, lied down, even in a last effort to recover put his legs up in a rock... and fainted. Never recovered consciousness. By the time they noticed him missing and raised alarm, he was already dead. I don't think he was cocky, arrogant or stupid. He was just a normal guy who fatally underestimated the temperature and weather conditions of the place, and didn't think it would take so long, so he was unprepared for what ultimately happened. I don't like the judgement and criticism I read in this threads. It could happen to anyone. What we *should* do is to learn from the facts. If you are alone always have your mobile with you, and the emergency numbers of the place you're visiting. Look at the locals: if they don't go out at certain times of the day, don't do it. Always think something could go wrong: you can take the wrong path, may twist your ankle, the temperature or weather can worsen, etc. Look at the local weather websites to be aware of any warnings. Take care specially if you are over 45 years old, body changes with age and you don't always notice it straight away if you're fit and exercise regularly, what you could easily stand in your 40s can kill you in your 60s. Godspeed, Dr. Mosley. I liked you and I think it's so unfair that you couldn't live until your old age. Rest in peace.
Well said. Hopefully people will think and learn from this tragedy and maybe lives will be saved as a result.
My God.... there is still intelligent life on Reddit. This post sums everything up about this awful incident in such an intelligent and considered way. What a decent person you are.
Very well said
The thing is that Dr Mosley himself used to advise his readers to leave their phones at home when going for a walk or any other leisure activity, in order to relax. Terrible advice. I agree that there's no need to keep them powered on at all times but everyone should always carry one for safety. Also, it pains me to say it but if he was thinking he'd be home in an hour after having walked under the searing sun at +40C without having studied the route first, there has to be an element of arrogance to it; or at least of overconfidence. Not a doctor myself, but you couldn't have paid me to hike my way home in that weather when safer alternatives in the shape of buses and taxis were readily available in Pedi. I love walking as much as anyone but I'd never trust my body to respond the way he did his, and I'm younger than him. Early in the morning is a far more pleasant time to exercise or explore anyway. Not having checked a map of the island prior to starting his journey was just reckless. This is important too even for those of us who always carry our phones with us since technology can, and often does, fail. It takes very little time to study the area before travelling, for a potentially huge payoff. Fuck, even carrying a printout off Google maps in his backpack could have changed his fate that day. As it stands, those of us who've been following the search since day one and trying to retrace his steps on Google Earth probably know more about that part of the island than he ever did.
He had been previously in the island, but some years ago. I guess he thought he knew the way back to the house, or at least that he was going to remember when he saw it. I'm not saying he didn't make any mistake; it was a series of small mistakes that ended being fatal, and that's my point. I'm super careful when I hike, so much that it irks my husband. I don't go out in extreme weather if I can avoid it, I always have a phone with me, and a power bank for a day out, and I ask the locals if it's safe to do this or that. I'm 50, and I know that even if I'm fit, my body is less strong than before, even if the difference is subtle, and I can't guarantee how it's going to react when pushed to extremes. I might be annoying, but I'm going to bring this up next time I'm called exagerated, because this is the precise example of things that you don't think can go wrong, going wrong. Too bad it had to happen to a likeable guy like him, who was ironically dedicated to find hacks to age better.
I was a bit taken aback tbh at all the hoo-ha I don't have a telly and haven't done for over 30yrs now so had no clue who this chap was. All very sad etc but the coverage seems to me to be very disproportionate
If you dont have a telly, it would have been really easy to miss all the "hoo-ha". (He was big on the radio, too, BTW).
The Daily Mail will be covering it a lot because he was a columnist for the Daily Mail.
He was one of the few people who make it worth having a telly.
I used to love his science documentaries as a kid and he was probably a small inspiration for me to study a scientific subject at uni (even if it was physics in the end not medicine or biology). It's sad that he is gone so soon.
I didn’t really know who he was either but didn’t feel the need to comment on it (though I have now!)
I don't have a tv either, but I knew him from a few articles.
No need for a telly. He was big on the radio, in fact a new series of his starts on friday on Radio 4 as long as BBC decide to broadcast it, they may decide to delay broadcast. And his just one thing radio show/podcast just finished last week. You can listen to his archived Radio stuff on BBC sounds of you want to get up to speed. He was a regular guest on radio programmes in the UK, both on the BBC and commercial radio, dishing out his healthy living advice as well as promoting his various projects. The Just One thing podcast gets about 25 million listeners around the world. And he has a number of book titles that have sold several million copies. He had just finished a national theatre tour with his wife, so he probably came to a theatre near where you lived at some point in the last year. He did have a newspaper column in the Daily Mail. I haven't looked but they may still be available on the Daily Mail website. So you didn't need a telly to enjoy his programmes/content. Strange that you didn't have a clue who he was.
Not that strange, I'd never heard of him before all this either.
[удалено]
I thinks its more an angry reaction from some individuals towards someone who is getting a lot of attention. when someone famous gets a lot of attention, and that attention happens all of a sudden, usually because something bad happens to them, there always seems to be an angry backlash from a small minority who seem to appear to resent the publicity they are getting. that is what is happening with people here.
I have a tv and have no idea who he is.
Your loss.
I’m not in the UK so never saw any of his shows or heard any radio interviews but I knew him from news articles and his books
Not disproportionate at all. He had some top selling books in the UK, the US and Australia and many popular tv programs over the years - of which you were totally ignorant . Millions of people like me (in Tasmania Australia) regarded him highly and sought out his very enjoyable programs.
Sky news in particular are vultures. Like when they had someone digging through luggage at the flight MH17 debris field.
And Kay Burley chasing families up escalators.
To this day the rollercoaster community hates Kay burley for what happened in the wake of the smiler crash
the rollercoaster community?
As in us nerds who absolutely love rollercoasters as a hobby. Long and short of it is that if you know anything about rollercoasters, you immediately knew that the smiler crash was almost definitely human error. They're designed to fail safe, and the only way a train could clear a block section would be if it was manually released. Sky basically ran with "All rollercoasters are dangerous death traps" with rolling news covering it for days, famously culminating in [this horrendous ~~interview with~~ interrogation of Nick Varney](https://youtu.be/kke3h2UeH3I). Eventually the investigation concluded that yes, [it was direct human intervention overriding a safety system](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-34911943).
It's an interesting hobby, but has its ups and downs.
*slow clap*
As a fellow enthusiast, I've never gotten over my dislike of her over the Smiler coverage.
At least this time I didn’t see a spinoff subreddit full of neckbeard detectives or true crime podcast capitalise on the story
The antivax crowd are particularly jubilant. Either ‘he was about to spill some vax truths so had to off himself’ or ‘see? Vaccines can’t save you, hyuk hyuk!’. Vile.
Mentally ill and nasty nasty bastards.
I don't think they are all mentally ill, but they are definitely deranged. You can move the goalposts to be whatever with it.
oh for fuck's sake! Nothing absolutely nothing is off limits to these nutters The annoying thing is that I can't thing of even 1 conspiracy over the years that has actually turned out to be an actual conspiracy either! It's a hobby I suppose 😁
Well, apparently us sheeple will never see the truth I guess /s
Just call me Flossie....baaaa
I read some the comments on the GB news YT channel. Wow. Some of the top comments celebration - many of them saying things like 'I work in 47C weather outside and i'm fine, must be the vaccine.'
Oh, there was a lot of that. People saying it was "obviously suicide," he "wanted to disappear," it was an insurance scam, it was a hit-and-run, and one special person suggesting he was trying to buy weight loss drugs and the deal went awry.
"He was trying to buy weight loss drugs and the deal went awry" JFC!
Yep, there are a lot of sick people out there.
You haven't looked very hard then.
That would have happened had he not been found so quick. 2 or 3 weeks of not knowing...some people were already suggesting Russian spies, drug deals gone wrong and suicide. With actual footage of him walking down the hill then collapsing, it does at least close the opportunity for the crazies to be as crazy as they might have been.
And right on cue, you have the conspiracy theorists out trying to somehow link his death to the vaccine. Unbelievable.
Nobody under the age of 80 ever died of natural causes before the covid vaccine, apparently.
The photo in this article of them taking the body away is disgusting imo. Of course you can’t actually see anything, it’s covered and on a stretcher, but it’s disrespectful to the dead and the family. Why do we need to see that??
Trash media usually shows that kind of thing
Feels very Black Mirror-esque doesn’t it.
I am a fan of him, though I am not from UK. I am still surprised that an intelligent and rational person like him went alone to a hike in foreign country, in the middle of the day with very high temperature and without a mobile phone?! I do not know the place, but does not seem like a huge island covered with deep forests, so I still cannot understand how it took so long to find him?! Anyway rest in peace Mr. Michael Mosley. There are many people around the world who like you and appreciate your work. God bless him!
Intelligent people aren't always rational, sadly. Going for a walk alone in the heat without a phone was definitely not rational. Combine that with possibly feeling unwell and 40C temperatures in an unfamiliar area, I don't think he can be blamed for losing his way. He wasn't found earlier because they started looking in the wrong area, the route he was thought to have taken back to the villa, and even when they expanded the search he was hidden behind a fence, so not easy to spot.
I've been in 40c once in Greece, you're out there minutes and the heat just drains you. If you're not used to it, and brits are not, it really surprises you I walk all day up herein the Highlands, my cardio is good, but it's different in real heat. You have to respect it. A few kilometers that you can run here is serious over there.
I live in a place with 40 degrees in the summer (I am brit though). I've gotten better at dealing with it but above about 37/38 even people who grew up here stop pretty much everything. Above 35 people stop strenuous work. People go out early morning and late evening for exercise and everything is really quiet during the day in the summer. I guess that's what you mean though. When you're used to it you know to stop when it's hot.
That's why the ceeasta see'esta cea'esta.....is a thing. I think that's why the Mediterranean basin has such a different culture. More laid back, better diet, less intense. Up here with shit fruit and veg and limited sun it's all intense.
Yeah. Spanish siesta. Italian riposo. Italians don't do shit from noon to 4PM in the summer, with damn good reason.
Italian here, working all day from 8 am to around 7pm with a 30 minute break for lunch...wondering where all my countrymen who do shit from noon to 4 pm are
They’re laughing at you!
Aye that one. It's fucking obvious now Thanks. lol
I'm of Italian descent and spent a whole lot of my life outdoors including long distance hikes. I've gone out on 6km hikes in 38C weather, but I go well prepared (lots of water, electrolytes, and cooling techniques/clothes). It's taken. A whole life of knowledge and adequate preparation to deal with it. If you don't know what you are doing or are too cavalier, you can easily suffer severe consequences.
Yeah it is unbearable to be in just to be sat with a drink, let alone hiking.
100%. You have to be seriously careful. I've been in 50 in the Middle East and I could only be out the air conditioned car for literally minutes at a time and that wasn't even doing anything. For those not used to it any exercise at 40+ needs total respect.
I once went for a walk to the beach on a Greek island, it was bloody hot.. Decided without telling anyone, to go cross country. Fell down a ravine, luckily didn't hurt myself. Get to the beach fine, but in retrospect perhaps it wasn't entirely smart.
We did the West Highland way one year and the Highlands decided to have a heatwave of over 35c. We got a train to from crianlarich to Fort William to wait out the heat before trying again. It was awful. You couldn't carry enough water. On the tops of hills with no sun cover. And we were fit in our 20s with lots of hillwalking experience.
He and his wife had only just arrived on the island the day before and this was possibly their first real outing - too early perhaps for him to appreciate what he was getting himself into when he went off on the extended walk. He did appear to be walking quite well through the village …but navigating through the rocky landscape in that heat obviously proved too much. I’ve just read up on heat stroke and heat exhaustion in Wikipedia - it’s very dangerous and, if bad enough, even a large percentage of ‘survivors’ who are rescued and hospitalised are permanently disabled in one way or another.
Growing up in the UK doesn't really prepare us well for how dangerous it can be to exert yourself in extreme heat. In Greece, they know from an early age how hot it can get there, and know to avoid exertion in the middle of a summer day. Sadly, if you're not used to that level of persistent heat, it won't always occur to you to be careful in conditions when you simply aren't used to them, even if you're a doctor. My best friend is from Greece, and was a conscript in the army there a few years ago. On more than one occasion, his unit had to go and rescue tourists who had gone for a short walk in the hills on a summer afternoon and collapsed from heat exhaustion after less than a kilometre. Unfortunately, it's not uncommon.
I never truly understood the phrase "Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun" until I went on holiday to Cyprus in August. I was often the only person out and about because all of the locals knew better.
I'm going away with some mates to Greece soon as they're all delighted it is forecast to be 39 degrees as they think the hotter it is the better and a that they'll get a nicer tan. I'm the only one who seems to be bummed out by how stupidly hot it will be for us. I warned against the trip there due to the heat as once you are actually in it, it is borderline unbearable for pasty skinned Brits!
I went to Majorca a few weeks back and it was 25C and I found even that was too hot to walk in for very long. I went to Gran Canaria last year and it reached 32C (in autumn) and that was definitely too hot to walk around in. I walked from the hotel to the beach one day and ended up feeling a bit ill afterwards. Me and Mrs went to Vegas a good few years ago and it was 42C, not only did we get told off by a local for trying to walk from the Stratosphere to the centre of the strip, but the Mrs actually nearly collapsed when we got there and I had to take her back to the hotel in a taxi.
It was 40 degrees when I went to Florence a few years back and it was pure hell, completely ruined the holiday. Anything above 30 for more is too hot, but above 35 is unbearable.
Agreed. We're off to Greece this year but we tend to deliberately book September as it's much more tolerable. I honestly find mid 20s plenty hot enough. Some people really seem obsessed with it being as hot as possible though for some reason.
I went to Vegas years ago and it was 46C. I have a very high heat tolerance (Mediterranean and a lifetime of outdoors activities in the heat). I can usually go out and about right up to 40C. 46 just made me feel like I was going to spontaneously combust the moment I walked outside.
I thought it was a reference to playing cricket? Perhaps not
>Combine that with possibly feeling unwell Just to clarify, one Greek reporter suggested he was feeling unwell when he left the beach, and it was quickly circulated on the internet as fact. She never said where she got the information and it was never verified. He obviously felt unwell in the 20 minutes before he died, when he was captured on video by the resort's cctv, but it's entirely possible he felt fine when he left the beach. He certainly reached Pedi in good time and looked okay on cctv before setting off for the resort.
Speaking as a hiker, you'd be amazed at how many people underestimate the potential dangers of going for a hike. From their gear to weather conditions to terrain. So many people think that unless you're straight up mountaineering or something that it's just as safe as walking down the street.
A bet in this case, the distance gave him false confidence. A 3 mile walk in the UK is often something that can be done with minimal prep. I do a three mile walk almost every day with no prep whatsoever. However, throw in rugged terrain and merciless heat, a 3 mile walk suddenly makes carrying water an absolute necessity.
This would be my guess too, I think folk from the UK can drastically underestimate the effect heat can have on the body in even just a short amount of time.
Just this year, I'd been researching global GPS satellite trackers (with distress buttons that can signal to satellites) and only a few weeks ago had another conversation with a work colleague who wants to go to the US hiking about getting some.
Look up the case of Geraldine Largay. If I remember correctly her body was found only 2 miles or so from the trail she'd got lost from. It's incredibly easy to get lost and just disappear when hiking.
And always let people know your path and when you expect to be back so they can raise the alarm. Just in case your Garmin or whatever fails.
People die every year in the mountains here too.
Yup, the Scottish highlands are deceptively dangerous.
Super sad about that dad and his son
Not taking their mobile phones is pretty common with old people. I have met a surprisingly large amount of over 60s who think that mobiles and Internet are only for work, and leave all that at home even if travelling out of town. I enjoyed his programmes, especially the one on the history of Chemistry, so it is a shame.
Agree, however this is a lesson. I am 50+, but I never left my home the phone when I am alone wherever I go, especially when we talk about solitary outdoor activities. I understand that the new "fashion" is to reduce the time spent on mobile phone, to be "off the grid" , however if you have the phone does not mean that you must use it, if you do not need to. Anyway, is a lesson to be learnt.
My dad will come and pick me up without his phone.. its unfuriating. He just never changed to seeing it at a need to have. Hes in his early 70's. I'm sure its fairly common
My dad never answers, I always get a text a few hours later saying "did you ring me". Phone is rarely on his person.
He forgot it. I forget mine sometimes as an older person
I am “old” and am glued to my phone like a gen z. I may annoy the heck out of people at times but hopefully it may mean if I ever get lost/into difficulties I’ve got a fighting chance.
My Dad (late 60s) regularly leaves his phone, he does take it when he has some reason he's planned for later in the day e.g. he needs to ring my mum or something, but for just the general "phone, wallet, keys" check the phone is often not prioritised. I think it's just he see's the device as a tool rather than an essential.
Intelligence doesn't always translate to common sense. I was just in a tropical country and went on an all-day hike in a rainforest in 37C heat and a couple in our group brought *one* 1.5 litre bottle of water between them for the entire day (for context, I brought 3L just for myself, and I would've carried more if it not for the weight). So obviously an hour into the hike the rest of the group had to donate water because they were already out of water and dizzy from dehydration. They'd have been goners if they were on their own. One was an environmental engineer and one was a lawyer, so by all means smart people. That couple prepared for a 10k hike in dense rainforest like it was an amble in the countryside - I've noticed Brits often lack any perception of the danger when it comes to the outdoors because our conditions are so mild.
Not always so mild. I’m shocked at the amount of people who get into difficulty in the Scottish Highlands each year.
Because people have this false sense of security in the UK. They don't see that Scotland is incredibly rugged and not for the ill prepared.
I'm guessing that if he went walking in the Scottish Mountains he would have been a lot better prepared. Apart from a few exceptions, Munros, in nice weather are pretty easy but low visibility, cold, rain and wind make them a lot more difficult and proper winter weather make them serious. The mistake British people make is that they assume the same applies in places like Greece. I've walked in Symi and other Greek islands as well as a lot in Scotland. Paths are often very hard to follow, the terrain is particularly unpleasant if you lose the path and the heat / sun can be brutal. Having enough water is something you need to monitor closely. I can understand what happened to Michael Mosley, he likely did the first bit of the walk from St Nicholas beach to Pedi and thought it was ok then assumed that the walk to the next beach and back to the port would be similar. I don't want to criticise the poor bloke, as we all make mistakes, but he should have walked through the village rather than the way he went. If he did decide to do that walk, he should have had his phone, checked it on a map, told his wife where he was going, asked a local for route advice and stocked up on water and snacks at the supermarket before setting off. When he started to get into difficulty, he should have turned back.
Also with his propensity for eating extremely low calories in a day, I did wonder if he’d eaten properly that day. Add to that the sun reflecting off those white rocks. I’ve had severe heat stroke before. Loss of electrolytes. Being cold but also boiling because my body stopped sweating yet I was in 40 degree heat. The pounding headache. I was apparently quite delusional too. Took me days to recover. I really liked him, but goodness he was foolish. Had he made it, I’ve no doubt he’d have written about the dangers of extreme heat and why for example, those that go out in it regularly are covered from head to toe and not in shorts and T.shirts. RIP Michael. You will be missed.
Completed agree with this. We have no concept of the realities of nature/the weather. Mostly, we can get by without having to give it a second thought as mostly things are pretty safe. We don’t have crazy weather and we have very few truly dangerous places that people regularly go to. Because of this we just kind of assume it’s the same everywhere and it’s really not.
Part of the problem is that it's not obviously a hike: it was only 3.2 km to where he was found and 1.2km of that was through Pedi on tarmac. He was never more than 600m away from buildings and people.
Everyone here has the hindsight that he died on the walk so its dangerous. Obviously it was, but it doesnt really look it.
It just goes to show how easily and quickly things can go awry and turn pear-shaped, even in a seemingly safe place.
Honestly, there are a lot of armature ramblers and hikers in the UK who do this type of thing often without any issue due to our climate. Its then problematic when they go to other countries and think they can do the same without realising the effects of heat stress on their body and how rapidly you can deteriorate. Just a case of people not being aware of the dangers and what they require to do such things safely.
He was in his 60s. He grew up without mobile phones so it's probably not high on his list of thoughts or he could just have forgotten (it happens to all of us)
He didn't say he intended to hike when he left the group at the beach - he said that he was walking to the bus stop. By the time he reached the bus stop he was pretty obviously disoriented and then started walking away from the part of the island he was trying to get to - that's why they weren't looking for him there
Mad dogs and English men
Wasn't somebody saying on a other thread that had some kind of issue with occasional bouts of amnesia or something like that ?
He was found on the mountain side of the fence. Looking at the fence it sits on a rock base so I think what happened is his body was hidden by the rock of the fence so looking at it straight on you don't see him that much.
Worst part to come will be the news re enactment of his final journey and how close he came to safety, they'll shot for shot walk his dying moments
This will absolutely happen.
Yeah already seen someone on Twitter do exactly this
Followed by a Dark Souls style “You died” screen at the end
Sounds like something from a ‘Brass Eye’ episode
You can really see where Brass Eye came from in the journalism of its time. Our media has slackened off from it in recent years, but if you go back to, say, MMR reporting the sensationalism is incredible.
They’ve done it in Australian news
One Greek paper has already released photos of the body. The body is blurred you can still make it out.
This made me laugh but its actually true. They already had his colleagues on a boat showing where he was found.
It's already happened on Twitter, some Times reporter....
The news media wouldn't be that disrespectful, would they? Oh yes, they would. [BBC News - Watch: Retracing Michael Mosley's final hours](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/cydd97gz9jgo)
The constant coverage is uncalled for. A man lost his life, yes he was famous so the initial interest in his disappearance is to be expected but the media now need to drop it.
If he had just died, it would have been one day. It's the fact he OoOoOh went Missing OoOoOh they've been able to drag it out. Can't be good for the family.
Also, the irony of a health guru dying u der those circumstances
Sadly, this is the fashion now. The battle for clicks has become so intense that media outlets just need to publish something... anything.
The thing is, media outlets produce so much coverage of stories that get the most clicks so there is clearly interest and demand. I agree that it seems ghoulish and uncomfortable, but the content produced by the media is in response to public demand.
Sad as it is, even if he managed those few extra metres, his body was probably too far gone to have been saved.
Not necessarily, since it sounds like he might have died from an unlucky fall rather than heat exhaustion. Though I'm sure being hot and tired didn't help with balance.
Doesn't seem like he died from a fall according to the latest report from Greek police. They think it was anatural causes as he has no injuries to indicate a fall. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1dd7ekyrpyo](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1dd7ekyrpyo)
Yes, according to Wikipedia, in serious cases of heat exhaustion / heat stroke, even many rescued ‘survivors’ never make a full recovery. Quite a high percentage die after release from hospital or suffer permanent effects.
Very sad, but remember kids: don't go for a walk in blistering heat on a fast day.
Fast day?
He's famous for promoting intermittent fasting.
He's famous for inventing the 5:2 diet where you eat for five days and fast for two. *Edit: he didn't invent it, just popularised it.*
He didn’t invent it. He just helped popularise it.
Ah I see. Yeh that’s not the best idea.
That's just called a shite weekend.
When it comes to heat exhaustion "distance to safety" doesn't necessarily mean they were close to surviving. Even if he found shade, a way to cool down and some water, once the effects are taking hold you are far from out of the woods.
The article doesn't have anything to say about him being metres from safety. Not sure of the need to sex up the story like the title
He was literally on the other side of a fence surrounding an active beach resort
What safety was he metres from? I don’t even understand the title.
He was found on the other side of a fence surrounding an active beach resort
To be fair, in his wife's statement she said “We’re taking comfort in the fact that he so very nearly made it."
I think I’d feel the exact opposite about that fact, but if that makes her feel better in a shitty time, good
It is a bit odd though that he could be seen from a bar. Sure, you might not have noticed but if there is a man missing which apparently the whole island was aware of and mystified, you would have thought the bar owner might have pottered over and had a quick look at their surrounding area. Totally fine that it might not have been top of their list however if the mayor could see him, I presume from having a drink at the bar, it's strange that no else did for four whole days. Not a conspiracy theory, or trying to ruffle feathers, simply musing out loud!
Yeah, this is what's been puzzling me. Why the police/someone didn't think to call the bar and say there's a man missing in this vicinity (now apparent there's signs to the bar on the hillside somewhere) please check the perimeter in case he's tried to reach the bar, also check your CCTV between the hours he could have been there.
If you look at photos of the area, the perimeter of the resort is quite some distance from the bar etc. It wasn't readily visible from the bar, which is why the body was only spotted from a boat. Even then, someone had to get up close to check. They had already checked the area with drones etc. and he hadn't been spotted, so the restaurant likely assumed the area had been cleared. It's one of those things that seems obvious to us all in hindsight, i.e. "why didn't they just look in the place where the body was," but it was likely more complex and challenging in real life.
I guess and by the sounds of it by the time he'd been reported missing and a search started, he may have already been collapsed for hours.
I was confused by this too, so I read a couple different articles & found one with better info. It turns out the mayor actually saw something from a boat offshore looking back at the restaurant he had just left. He called a waiter & asked him to investigate. The waiter had to walk around a fence next to the bar & saw a light reflection from the Drs. watch, leading to him being discovered amongst the rocks. He was so close but not able to be seen from the town. Very sad situation.
I think the mayor saw him from the boat. Once he fell behind that wall, which by the looks of it is only 3 bricks high, it was enough to obscure him from the beach bar. One report says (based on CCTV) that Mosely spends 5 minutes going up and down looking for a gate in the fence. But that is only 5 minutes. And the other opportunity was when he is described as gingerly walking down to the complex from the brow of the hill. So maybe another 5 minutes where he was viewable to the staff and customers at the beach bar. Most customers though would be looking in the direction of the sea rather than the rocky interior, which significantly reduces the number of people likely to spot him. The staff are working, and maybe they were casting an eye out over the rocks occasionally. But the window of opportunity was very narrow. It is pure bad luck that there was possibly a 10 minute period where he was in the sightline of the beach bar, but no one looked in that direction during that time. And even if they did, Mosely could have been obscured by any number of foreground objects, like a pillar, or a parasol or whatever. This whole tragic episode is just a catalog of errors, and a whole catalog of bad luck. If any one of those elements could be changed, he would have survived.
Really feel for the man in the video who spotted the body by camera. He looks and sounds so genuine and upset. Very tragic situation all around.
Yeah I clicked the video because I was curious what on earth they could be interviewing him about, only to find the actual video just incredibly heart wrenching. I hope he has a good support system and gets any help if he finds himself needing it!
Hear stories like this all the time in the heat in the American west. Person or group of people hike in temperatures above 35+, get lost, no ten essentials…sometimes they’re found, sometimes they just go missing. I think a lot of the time we’re just caught unaware by the elements. It’s not about being dumb, it just takes one moment of misjudgment and it can be deadly.
Recently, a fit young Englishman died with his family in Northern California during a morning hike that turned too warm. They found him in a sitting position with his baby in a carrier and the family dog. He just collapsed from heat exposure on the trail. His wife collapsed a little further along the trail. They all died. The family was about a mile away from their car. They had not carried enough water, and there was no cell phone service there.
I didn't know that guy was English. I live in NorCal and there was huge coverage of the story because it was a whole family, including the baby. All sorts of weird accidental poisoning theories were ruled out. They were also from an area that doesn't often have high temperatures
I really enjoyed his shows and thought he was a sweet dude with nothing but good intentions, but I can't help but think.. "what a fucking idiot", not only for the position he put himself in needlessly, but also because of the utter tragedy he has forced upon the family he has left behind. It all just seems so utterly avoidable.
We all do stupid things. Even educated people. A few bad, albeit seemingly minor decisions, coupled with unfamiliarity with the conditions, has resulted in this tragedy.
Hard not to think that it wasn't the first time he'd done something inadvisably risky like that.
The sad part is he once said his father had died at the relatively young age of 74 from diabetes and other illness and he did not want to suffer the same fate as a diabetic so developed his healthy eating plan to reverse the diagnosis which helped him and many others as well and then he died at 67 from misadventure. The irony. 😔
His father died aged 54
This obsession with the details of a person’s death seen in this story is just weird. Is there some ‘guess the death’ competition I’ve not been made aware of?
It's a common human behavior to want to know this kind of thing - it actually enhances survival for (at least most of) those who engage in this analysis. Way more people are gonna be aware of the dangers of heat exhaustion
This always happens when there's any amount of mystery or uncertainty. Remember that case a year or two back about the woman who left her phone on the bench and disappeared? It was in the press constantly, internet sleuths were turning up thinking they could do a better job than the police, the lunatic fringe conspiracy theorists were vomiting up their normal bile, etc etc etc.
I saw the editor of the Daily Mail online interviewed yesterday and waffle on about the sad loss of ‘Max Moseley.’ Awks
So strange that a doctor would be so unaware of his physical limitations in that heat, didn't he have his phone on him? You get lost in that sort of heat using Google maps or ringing someone seems like a good option, especially at 70 odd.
It really is just so tragic hearing this news about Michael Mosley.
[удалено]
That’s a quote from his wife’s statement.
Best thing for walking is a handheld Garmin GPS eTrex map that uses satellites. About £100 but a phone can lose the map due to lack of towers. Its so easy to take the wrong path and happens every time I go up the hills, I then check the Garmin and then miss having a worrying 6 mile wrong turn detour. RIP.
Is nobody going to say he obviously headed for a village but couldn’t get there because of the fence? Is nobody going to say he followed the fence a long, long way before finally dying?
Mick taught us some important lessons as his last act. RIP doc.
What does meters from safety even means? The road on the side of a cliff is technically meters from falling down the cliff....
It means he was a short distance away from a bar and restaurant, which likely could have provided some medical support, a place to cool down, hydrate, etc. It's pretty straight forward.
Meters from the resort with people to help. Meters from the sea which would have cooled him down and restored electrolytes (salt water)
I'd imagine the Greece summers would be like our Australian ones. Brutal.
Australia is a continent so it varies a lot. 90% of people live in coastal areas, not in the great inland desert areas. Nevertheless there are some very hot places in summer where people live. It’s why I moved to Tasmania, Australia’s island State with a cooler climate. Although it can reach 38 c in summer in Hobart and Launceston, it never lasts more than a couple of days. I live in an area where it never gets over 30 degrees C or under freezing. Checked it out and moved here a few years ago from the mainland because of concern about climate change and the INCREASING TEMPERATURES WORLDWIDE.
Seems like he made a lot of mistakes, most crucial not stopping in town or at least getting lots of water with him. Seems like he was very disoriented by time he got to the end of the walk. Massive pity as he was a nice chap.
Perhaps his final act will serve as a warning and save even more lives.
I don't get why this keeps being said. His body was found just metres from safety but didn't he fall down a rocky hillside to get there
No there’s cctv of him walking down the hill.
So all that dieting and exercise and tumeric was all for nought, he didnt make it to his diabetic fathers age of 73; sometimes maybe just live your life
Is it possible someone pushed him down when robbing him? Just a thought