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

[Glasto73lover]

It’s that idea of never really knowing what’s going to happen- the idea that we walk such a fine line in life. If you think too much about it, you probably wouldn’t leave the house.!

A close family member died suddenly and tragically a decade ago - literally dropped dead at home age 48 - something went pop in their head. So you genuinely don’t know when your time is up.

It’s that idea of a chain of consequence that can go so horribly wrong too- people always say ‘oh but you could get hit by a bus’ - stuff like this actually makes me really anxious. So many what ifs.

For Michael Moseley - a chain of probably inconsequential decisions may have led to his death- not having a phone on him, choosing to undertake a walk that in the U.K. is nothing but in that heat, was devastating and probably caused his death.

It makes me anxious that I won’t know if I am making those decisions - am I making sense? I think as I have got older, I have become more anxious and risk averse (thanks menopause) and as a result, you could end up not leaving the house. How do you choose a sensible approach? Not too much risk but some!

But I also want to live my life too!! I guess I find incidents like this quite difficult!

I guess always having a phone, not undertaking walks in intense heat in an unfamiliar place etc are the common sense points that will come out of this tragedy.

Aibu to find it anxiety provoking tho?!

What concerns me isn't this happening to me but to a loved one. A few scary hours and then my death is so different to living with the loss of a loved one who died so unexpectedly and tragically young. I keep imaging MM's family returning home. That's where the heartache and worry would be for me.

I think if you're anxious and risk averse then you're very unlikely to find yourself in a similar situation tbh. And that's not a criticism of MM at all or saying that he was reckless, more just pointing out that you're very unlikely to make similar choices.

Whether being anxious and risk averse makes for a less enjoyable or fulfilling life is another question altogether...

No it does not give me anxiety at all. I think what he did was pure idiocy and I'm baffled why he did it. In a million years I would not walk anywhere in 40C heat in the middle of the day, particularly not on my own or without a phone. I feel terribly sorry for the family he has left behind.

I agree. People make ill-judged decisions all the time. It's just chance that his ended tragically whereas the ill-judged decisions of other people didn't.

I think people like to think "I'd never be that stupid" because it gives the impression of control, like it could never happen to them. But I'm sure he never thought he'd make a fatal decision either.

I'm sure more people die in road traffic accidents, are they stupid for getting in their cars every day?

No I don't worry about this atall. He did go off alone in an unknown area In extreme heat without a phone that's not very wise. Having said that I do think when your numbers up it's up

Don’t get me wrong - I haven’t always been like this. I travelled the world when younger, have jumped out of a plane and have had some close calls myself (nearly drowned once on a Thai beach) - I think having kids, menopause etc has made me more risk averse for sure.

Maybe don’t go wandering off in 40 degree heat with no phone, water or map. It’s easily avoidable.

According the news he had a 1.5 mile walk back to the villa where he was staying, but he took a wrong turn and after 2 miles he collapsed.

He probably thought it wasn’t too far and he could walk it easily - and in the UK he probably could - but not in 40 degree heat. If he hadn’t got lost he would have made it back safely.

As someone who has suffered a lot of illness despite a healthy diet, I always felt he was quite deluded and about how much you can control your health with diet and found him quite preachy. I don't think fasting is good for health anyway. A very large proportion of ill health is mostly down to genetics, getting older and random bad luck.

👏 He could have died of a heart attack sitting in a chair at home. Instead, he went while outdoors, doing something he enjoyed. Best way to go if you ask me. 🤷‍♀️

I am sure he would. He was very good at leveraging lots of things to commercialise them to his benefit: the intermittent fasting he was so good at promoting was developed by an oncologist called Professor Tony Howells who got minimal credit from Michael Mosley. I am not a fan and I cannot get worked up about this, he made some deeply flawed decisions and these were all within his gift to manage and control had he applied even a basic level of common sense. There is nothing worthy about leaving your phone at home to soak up the authentic Greek island you are visiting if it means you are not contactable to disasterous effects.

That's a terrible comparison though

I had that thought too, it’s just the sort of thing my husband would do and I guess it’s sheer luck whether or not you get away with it.
He obviously didn’t know it was going to be so catastrophic, i imagine most risk takers don’t, whether they do it consciously or unconsciously. Taking risks is inherent in many things we do.
It’s so sad and awful for his family.

I think he had some water. If he was much younger he still probably would have been okay. Like a lot of men he was in denial about the effects of age.

I just feel very sad about it. He was a wonderful broadcaster. I listened to a lot of his podcasts and feel he had a lot more to offer. Nothing compared to his family of course.

He probably thought it wasn’t too far and he could walk it easily - and in the UK he probably could - but not in 40 degree heat.

In your own words, he was right, he would have made the 1.5 miles. He had a hat and umbrella for shade, water, he cooled off in the sea before setting off. I understand there's a good proportion of Brits who can't function when it gets over 25 degrees but not everyone is like that.

He got lost. We don't know what point he realised he'd forgotten his phone. These things can happen to anyone, I hope those of you posting your awful shit on here don't have the temerity to die of something preventable.

Totally agree

I get what you mean and I often think like you, but we mustn’t be frightened to live our lives. All we can do is take sensible precautions and hope for the best

Not likely with AI.

do we know that is why he died though?

My dad also thought very much like this and used to sneer a bit at my mum, whose lifestyle was (somewhat) more indulgent. He died of a very aggressive form of cancer in his 60’s. I had a bit of an existential crisis at the time and fell into a period of ‘what’s the point’ hedonism/nihilism. This situation with Michael Moseley has reminded me a bit of my dad, although it does sound like he was a much nicer person (no sneering!).

I do think there is an element of, the fitter and healthier you are the more you think something bad could never happen to you.

I would never have walked even 5 minutes in 40 degree heat because my health isn't fantastic and the heat really affects me. I suppose I am more risk averse because I don't want to make my life any worse!

I had a very fit and healthy uncle who in his early 60s was riding his bicycle at a high speed, crashed, hit his head on a rock and nearly died.

But I see the attitude on MN all the time. Any thread about age and people are saying things like "I'm in my 60s and fitter than most 30yr olds". It's delusional quite honestly. But nothing you can do. People make their own choices.

It's one of those things. Death, destiny, we never know when or how we will die.

Maybe this was meant to be, of how he would die.
A wonderful man with the knowledge to know better (in our humble opinions) succumbed to the end of his life by one wrong turn. Maybe his destiny was to leave a reminding legacy.

My love and thoughts are with his wife and children.

I also find it very frightening how mundane decisions (like not charging your phone in time and therefore not having it with you, when you decide to go for a walk) can potentially be the difference between living or not.

Menopause has massively increased my anxiety levels (which I was always prone to). HRT has helped a lot, but I try not to dwell on how precarious life can be - it would drive me insane if I thought about it too much.

Someone said to me that it's rarely the things you worry about that actually happen. Mostly you get blindsided by something you could never have seen coming, and therefore could never have controlled or prevented, on a random Tuesday. That frightens me tbh - all you can do is try not to think too much!