Thread 4 - Michael Mosley

[Aquarius1234]

Body found and identified.

I’m a bit puzzled by people (on this thread) who say they don’t usually take their phone when they go out a walk. I’d never purposely leave it at home, even if I wasn’t going to use it I’d want it in case of an emergency.

I agree @WriterOfWrongs and I think the discussion about how dangerous the midday sun is, and MM should have known better as a doctor is a bit premature. Given that MM said he wasn't feeling well apparently before he left the beach, then went on to make some unusual decisions before collapsing and passing away a few hours later, it's entirely possible he's had something like a brain haemorrhage.

It wasnt just hot it was 40c + !! That is unbearable like walking into your oven on the highest setting.
30 seconds feels horrible let alone 2 hours.

Yes you're right of course - and plenty of people do similar things and end up fine as well. It was just a series of unfortunate events and possibly errors of judgement.

I'm feeling particularly shocked that his fall was captured on CCTV. Knowing a man was missing, why wouldn't all businesses on this small island have reviewed their CCTV? They've had ages and a man walking on - and then falling from - the barren hillside would have been immediately apparent. It doesn't sound like he could have been saved (I hope not - that's too terrible to contemplate) but could have saved his family days of torture and the searchers days of putting themselves in danger.

I personally feel there's an arrogance to not taking a phone in this day and age. I've had words with my mum about this. She is older and has fallen several times yet goes out with the dog to remote locations without taking it. It's just stupid, quite frankly. And yes I know people say they 'want a break' and don't feel the need to be tied to it yada yada but you can always have it on silent or just not look at it?

I’ve not read anywhere that he wasn’t feeling well before he left the beach.. are you sure about that?

Im pretty sure if that was the case they wouldn’t have let him go off on his own in that sort of heat, especially without a phone.

It was first reported somewhere that he allegedly said he either didn’t feel well or was tired and was going back to the villa. However, that hasn’t been verified.

The only thing we know officially is that he told his wife he was going for a walk.

It hasn't been said where he was walking to, if indeed he said. We don’t know if he told his wife he’d meet her back at the beach she was on, or back at the villa, or elsewhere.

It depends. If I'm walking somewhere with no phone signal I don't bother unless I need it for maps.

I can’t believe that this poor man has died and people are still having debates on phones. Have some respect, there’s a time and place.

If this tragedy has made someone start carrying their phone with them (who previously didn’t for whatever reason) & could then potentially save them in an emergency then it’s well worth having the discussion imo, including the people who didn’t know the app ‘what3words’ existed until today.

He’s spent his life helping other people, I think it’s a mark of respect to draw attention to issues such as these which may help save someone else in the future.

I wouldn't bring a phone with me as my iPhone doesn't work in the heat anyway even at 20deg and absolutely wouldn't work at all in 30deg plus.. Even if it is kept in a bag, the heat in Greece would make it unusable in seconds. The only thing it might be useful for is tracking my location but again I don't know if even that feature would work in the heat.

I don't know about your oven but mine goes higher than 250 degrees.

I wouldn't personally go hiking in 40+ or recommend anyone else do it, but 30 seconds at 40 is not unbearable for loads of people. It occasionally reaches that temperature where I live - quite unexpectedly sometimes so we're not acclimatised - and we still go to work and live our lives. We can see from all the news articles about Dr Mosley that plenty of people were out and about on the island that day.

Iphones are designed to work up to 35 degrees celsius. If yours doesn't work above 20 it might be time for a new phone! Above 35 they might shut off. But potentially could be cool enough in a backpack that even if not used, would be useful to pinpoint your location if you had a fall etc. There are very, very few places where people can go nowadays where there is zero phone reception at any point during their trip. Unless you're exploring the Amazon or something.

I have an IPhone 12 and I have tried using it abroad while on the beach in the mid to late twenty degrees (when the phone wasn't as old as it is now), and it doesn't work at higher temps. It simply wouldn't have worked at 35-40deg so even if MM had one, it would have shut down with the sun blazing down.

ETA I have just googled and it states it should work between 32-35deg. (absolutely not true in practice despite Apple's claims) and once it reaches this temp, it will shut down until it returns to its normal operation temp. MM's phone would never have returned to the normal temp. while he was outside in the heat. The phone would have shut down and been of little use unless the location feature worked and I'm unsure it actually would.

I live in Australia where it gets to 40 degrees sometimes. Don’t think my iPhone has ever stopped working due to the heat. To be fair I hate the heat and try and stay out it as much as possible so my phone wouldn’t get to that temperature very often. I’ll basically hibernate in that kind of weather.

I’ve never had a problem with my iPhone not working in hot countries. I didn’t even know they had a supposed temperature limit until reading this thread.

It’s heart-breaking that Dr M was so close to that resort. The slope is so open and exposed and if I’ve understood it right, it looks very close to the resort where people were. If only one person had happened to be looking in that direction as he descended, before falling out of view behind the fence, he might have been saved. It’s such a tragedy.

It does sound like he was planning to head back to where they were staying, according to the DM: “Setting off with a single small bottle of water but crucially no phone, father-of-four Dr Mosley said he was heading back to the three-bedroom Merchant House apartment in Symi where they were staying with friends.”

I think it’s direct sun that causes. Issues. Mine freezes if left in sunlight on 20c day.

It was mentioned that he was not feeling well before he left the beach in every single report from day one.

@pearlsundersea I don't know where you are reading your reports but I haven't seen that mentioned once. I've been reading the Sky news updates and listening to the BBC (radio 4).
As for phones: my iPhone has had problems if in direct sunlight at high temps, but has not stopped working if kept in a bag.

ETA I have just googled and it states it should work between 32-35deg. (absolutely not true in practice despite Apple's claims) and once it reaches this temp, it will shut down until it returns to its normal operation temp. MM's phone would never have returned to the normal temp. while he was outside in the heat. The phone would have shut down and been of little use unless the location feature worked and I'm unsure it actually would.

But for most iPhones this doesn't happen ime. I have had several iPhones over the years, as has dd and dh.

Occasionally in extreme heat, in full sun, it has come up with a too hot message. It doesn't shut down though, just can't do much with it until it's cooled a bit. And that generally means putting in the shade inc a bag or pocket for a short while and it's fine again. Iirr the emergency number will often still work too as it can override most of the issues, expect it being turned off.

I've been on holiday in lots of places with extreme heat and never had an issue. It's been in dry heat in Vegas in August as well as humid heat in south east Asia and Florida, etc. and I've used them throughout.

It was not, it was mentioned by one reporter, and a few copied it, it’s never been repeated since, and it was never backed up. As such, it was very likely nonsense.

Thread police. How tiresome

iPhone 12 owner here and the iOS gets updated regularly - my phone also shuts down when it gets hot.

I think your phone is faulty and needs replacing.

I agree with this, but in The Times article today it’s been repeated there, despite there being nothing verified about it.