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

It's very easy to think about stupid decisions in retrospect, but the reality is, none of us really thinks something like this is going to happen to us. Analising things looking back, we all feel other people's decisions are stupid, but we have been, and will be, that person several times in our life when we made an apparently inconsequential bad decision. Most of times it won't lead to anything catastrophic. One time it may do, and then everyone else will be all over our actions and how we could be so stupid.

The majority of times it is not one single stupid decision, but the "gruyere cheese theory": when all the holes in the cheese, by pure chance, align themselves, and then a mouse would fall through the cheese instead of just eating it peacefully.

I haven't really got a person like that in my life.

@crackofdoom
I would happily do it for a neighbour. It makes sense for a neighbour to do something like that. It's also an entirely reasonable arrangement to make with the manager of a pub or bnb if you're staying in one. Or even members of an online ramblers discussion type group to do it for each other.

All those talking about phones are also making wrong decisions. People get lost and need to be rescued or die every year on walks around the world because they assume they will always get a phone signal so can summon help if necessary. A phone may help you, but you should never rely on it.

Yes, you are right. It’s just terribly sad

What the fuck? He's died. Have some respect.

I think he did what many on MN do. Assume that because you are fit, age has little impact. But you are more likely to get heatstroke if you are older.

So you know why he made the decision he made ? Any reasonable person would agree that he made a wrong choice and was disoriented.

Absolutely agree. He wasn’t being irresponsible.Just a wrong decision which had the most awful consequences.

I feel the same way. I really appreciate his work and he seemed so lovely! The kind of man you'd love to have a coffee and a chat with. It's incredibly sad and I feel terrible for his family.

The only thing I want is a good death, by that I mean a sudden and painless one. I welcome euthanasia being brought in, if any politician is brave enough to do it properly. But if you never risk anything it really would be more pointless to live than it is.

He might have had a catastrophic bleed or a heart attack. Hence feeling faint and lying down. No one knows. His body was in a bad state of decay and they have only done the first look. Toxicology/histology reports may shed more light. Dying of heat stroke is a very rare event and I'm sure he was comfortable with the very low risk - if he was as as risk averse as some of you guys expect, he most certainly would not have had as as much success and helped as many people as he did. The judgment of a dead person here is outstanding.

My father died by tripping down the stairs. Very little wrong with him before then, but he sustained very serious injuries that the Drs said anyone of any age would be unlikely to survive from.
A friend is in a wheelchair after a very minor car crash. But she sustained some neurological damage that has affected her ability to walk.
People die all the time from accidents and misadventures. Sometimes because of one small silly mistake that they could not have foreseen, sometimes sheer chance.

Yes, exactly this

Some of the replies here are cruel. We all make silly decisions and none of us know the specific factors behind his - I'm an avid walker and hiker and have made some mistakes, and would be surprised to hear of someone who waller as regularly as MM did who never had less than perfect preparation.

Realistically, the causes of most deaths include things within your control long-term (stress, lifestyle choices), things completely outside your control (random events, genetic makeup) and things you control short term as a split second decision (taking a certain route, not bringing phone/water on a hike). I'd put money on the latter being the least significant in most deaths. All you can do is your best, and focus on dealing with the anxiety because as you say, if you dwell on it you'll terrify yourself.

One of the best written posts on here. Hear, hear.

I remember reading in the news about someone who fell over on the pavement and died. Normal, perfectly healthy person, just tripped, hit their head on the pavement and died.

Things like this make me feel that when it's your time, there is no escaping!

Just to clarify I don't believe in my last statement. It was to show it is unhelpful to generalise about older men and women's bodies.

Menopause did not make me anxious. I felt the same in terms of risk appetite but older and wiser.

The really daft this is that he walked past how many cafes’? Even if he didn’t have enough water with him, I’m sure he could have purchased some more or just asked them to fill his bottle from the tap.

Also, I have done the fast 800 with the intermittent fasting and I often felt light headed or dizzy during the fast. Maybe that added to his confusion, the man has seemingly been on a diet for 20 years

Some years ago, maybe nearly 20 years ago, a grandfather and toddler/very young child went missing after supposedly going for a walk, there was a huge amount of press reports indicating the grandfather had abducted his grandchild, lot of negative reporting and no consideration of alternatives: turned out they had gone on a walk, in an area with lots of bracken in full growth, the grandfather had had a heart attack and collapsed into the bracken which hid both of them, but thankfully the child was heard crying and was rescued.
We don't know why MM made the choices he did that day and we are unlikely to ever know, so unless someone has a recording of him saying 'I'm off for a dangerous walk in the blistering heat without water and phone and sod the consequences' I don't think it's fair on him or his family to draw the conclusion that he was intentionally reckless, however posters feel it looks to them. The one person who could tell us, can't.

Also want to be clear that I'm not saying stupidity was involved in Michael Mosley's death either. I thought he was a lovely man, and so sorry for his family right now.

It's that slap in the face reminder of how frail we actually are as humans.

A couple of years back, a colleague died suddenly, after falling down her stairs.Just that- no heart attack, no stroke, nothing like that and stone cold sober. Just lost balance, fell and hit her head. Her husband, in another room, never even heard the fall.

That shook me up for months, and I couldn't help but start thinking of my own impending death- and I just thought, I know I'm going to die, but please, let it not be in an accident of some sort. Particularly if the accident was kind of down to my own stupidity!
Not that I'm suggesting that there was any stupidity involved in my colleagues accident, but I'm almost sure that if it was me falling down the stairs, a level of stupidity would be involved 😂 I'd be two wines in, or not have my slippers on properly, or get spooked by a non existent spider that was actually a fluff ball, or trip on my dressing gown belt. It really made me think.

Then women's bodies go the other extreme during menopause and make them anxious and paralyse themselves with fear.

But I do agree that older men often mistakenly feel like they’re still physically invincible (more so than women do, I think, maybe because we are generally more aware of our physical vulnerabilities)

I agree with this, women go through menopause and all the massive changes to our minds and bodies this causes, our bodies literally tell us we are getting old, men however can delude themselves they are Peter Pan, not sure who has it better actually!

I really disagree with this. As a woman coming ( hopefully) to the end of my menopause I still do many things that others of my age see as risky and dangerous ( I'm 59) and snowboard, hike in mountains, usually alone, mid week, mountain bike etc. I don't see what the problem is but my mum despairs of me. I'm not feeling old yet. I know im not the only one. I have plenty of female friends that travel off the beaten path solo in different countries, women who cave , heck I've even got friends that road cycle ( now that is dangerous, the fools!)
Better to die happy rather than boredom.

this is a good take on it. One other thing to mention is that even in his death he has taught us all something about what not to do - I imagine a lot of people will reconsider a walk in the heat, or remember to take their mobile with them - due to the publicity around this. It's not the same as him being around any more, and as terribly sad as it is, it is fitting that even in death we are learning from him! I hope that doesn't sound weird, it's not meant to be a criticism and is hard to find the right words, but it is fitting that he is still teaching us even at this point after this tragic event!

I totally agree with you. I thought I was the only person who was thinking why on earth would a obviously very intelligent man,who's a doctor and should know the risks,go for a walk in 40+ degree heat,without a phone and a minimal water supply?