To find what’s happened to Michael Mosley quite anxiety provoking

But he was a doctor and someone very knowledgeable about health, illness, ageing etc. It's harder for older people to regulate body temperature, regardless of how fit they are. Ageing decreases the ability to sweat. He must have had some knowledge of it.

Then I stand corrected and agree with many PP he should have been better prepared - had his phone, more water and told someone his actual route and roughly expected time back.

We do that in areas we know less well - even where we live we roughly say area and time.

Maybe that's why there such a range of response - felling mildly unwell returning unexpectedly without group taking less good route or taking wrong turn leading to understandably accident or planning an ardours hike/walk and being so ill prepared which is much less understandable.

The Times today says he was heading back to the villa.

Ageing and heatstroke is more about people in their 80s and 90s, not a fit 67 year old.

Compared to a 30 year old, MM was older.

But compared to an unfit, obese 45 year old he was possibly fitter.

It’s all very well accusing more cautious people of being holier-than-thou but why do you walk in such potentially dangerous places? If anything happened to you people would have to risk their own well being to find you.

I understand he told people he was heading back to the villa.

No, his wife said he told her and their friends he was going for a walk

Fair enough, my mistake. I had read in the media and on here he was ' heading back" which I took to mean heading back to the villa.

Loads and loads of fit people on MN think sixties is still very young and that your body has not really aged. They think all that matters is fitness. It is a very common belief. That does not make someone stupid. Their body is still fit and strong, they can still go for runs or go hoking so they think everything is as it was.

I have found his disappearance and death very saddening. It could have been preventable . What has made a major impact on me was we saw him on “ tour” not that long ago and he talked about his fathers early death - 71 , I think it was . He didn’t even make it to that age . So sorry for his wife and children.

Yes the “ letting him” go for a walk makes me wince as there is no way I could - or would try - to dissuade my DH if he decides to go for a walk. I think that’s all a bit unfair. He was a grown man.

I understand he told people he was heading back to the villa.

No, his wife said he told her and their friends he was going for a walk.

I agree this is an age where fit people misjudge that their body has got older. You are more likely to get heatstroke as you age.

@MuseKira your DH clearly isn't like some men in my family then who often choose to make their own judgements and can be very stubborn in insistent doing things their way.

I only read news report that said he was feeling unwell so headed back - so no idea no accurate those are but took it to be feeling mildly unwell ie not up for rest of days activities but fine after a nap back at hotel situation - not so bad he needed someone with him - and that he possibly deteriorated on route.

Similarly - the repeated assertions that MM was returning to the friends home where they were staying

All his wife has said is that 'he went for a walk' - nothing more than that

I agree. I think it’s a bit of a lottery once you get into your 50’s and older. I know 3 women fairly closely who have been diagnosed with cancer in the last 2 years and a man who died after an accident at work. You never know when your time is up.

It takes time but in couple of years she will be lonely.

Or she won't be 🤷‍♀️ I hate this type of pessimistic outlook. She may be surrounded by good friends who don't fuck off, or shock horror, she may find a new partner.

A lot of people don’t enjoy walking etc. I actually do, but I also know people who grind out with their pedometers etc and don’t enjoy it but feel that somehow hitting a magic figure will transform their life. And another friend is getting constant headaches as she tries to fast through the morning at work. So some people do grind through things they find really miserable.

If 67 is old and infirm, as so many on this thread seem to suggest, can they please have a word with the government who think it is well within our working years?

FIL was working full time as a builder in week then weekends either digging an huge allotment and back garden or single handily building huge extension for DH cousin in evenings and weekend for months - he did that kind of thing most of his life but by 67 that level of activity was just too much for him - but he wasn't listening to everyone saying have more breaks or slow down. Heart attack made him slow down a lot.

So not saying 67 is infirm - but is I think a dangerous age in that that it's easy for particularly fit men to misjudge slow decline in capability before major infirmity and ill health starts to hit.

I’m sure MM’s wife is really grateful for your advice. 🙄

We weren’t there and we don’t know what they talked about before he left. We don’t know if he said ‘I feel ill’, or perhaps ‘I’m a bit tired’ or ‘I’ve got a bit of a headache’ or indeed ‘I feel extremely unwell’.

Also, we’re talking about grown adults here. ‘Let’ and ‘insist’ don’t really have any place in conversations with other adults. My husband and I make decisions for ourselves. Yes of course we discuss things and sometimes one of us will try to persuade or influence the other if we feel strongly about something, but you can’t actually ‘let’ or ‘not let’ an adult go for a walk, provided they’re of sound mind.

It’s a red herring that keeps getting repeated that MM had been feeling unwell. I think it came from a mistranslation.

But it does not fit with anything said by his widow. Look up her statements if you want.

People should really stop repeating it.

I tell my kids ALL the time. You must tell people your route. Not because we're checking on you, but because we know where to look if you don't return.

Me and OH do a fair bit of daily walking separately. We know each other's routes and don't deviate from them. I have around 15 regular walking routes, OH has around 10. The last thing either of us would do on our own is randomly take a different route.

We've also instilled that same mentality into our son. Fair enough, he doesn't do walking for fun, but throughout his teens, we insisted on knowing where he was going, how he was getting there, who he was with, etc. Sounds controlling, but it's a matter of safety. Not just being able to contact/find him if he went AWOL, but also giving us the opportunity to point out potential pitfalls, risks, etc if we thought he was going somewhere with risks he maybe hadn't considered, and ensuring he had a Plan B etc.

He made a series of poor decisions unfortunately. If he'd had his phone things might have been different, it's well known that you avoid going out and certainly any strenuous activities between 12 and 3/4 pm when the sun is at its highest, he had only a small bottle of water, walked where there was zero shade. It doesn't take away the awful tragedy of what happened, but it may help others not to take unnecessary risks.

@SmileyHappyPeopleInTheSun

I thought he'd started to feel unwell - rather than disrupt rest of their plans headed back with umbrella and some water and got lost possibly due to being ill with impair judgement.

If my OH was feeling unwell, the last thing I'd let him do is walk back on his own without a phone, in the hottest part of the day, without enough liquids! I'd be insisting we go back together, probably by taxi rather than walking on rough ground over a mountain!

I tell my kids ALL the time. You must tell people your route. Not because we're checking on you, but because we know where to look if you don't return.

I say same to my teens - I want someone to have a idea where to start looking and when if something goes wrong they should worry- so approx area and time at very least.

I suspect this was more viewed as popping back to hotel room to rest - and despite arduous climb wasn't mentally framed as anything potentially dangerous.

My teens have said they want to go for walks without us on holiday - DH first repone was to make sure they have their phone - mine that we talk to them about tides as it is very possible to get cut off - and remind them about flags if they decide to swim and heat/sun.

If 67 is old and infirm, as so many on this thread seem to suggest, can they please have a word with the government who think it is well within our working years?

My grandfather was still downhill ski racing into his 70s and only stopped after he had a hip replacement.

I haven't read through all 20 pages, but honestly - the main lesson is, don't go for a walk and not tell people your route.

I understand he told people he was heading back to the villa.

Unless he decided he was going to circumnavigate the island for a bit of a detour I wouldn't expect a further explanation if my dh had said that.