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?!

Yes I very similar thoughts to you op. Thought I was being weird

@Thisoldheartofmine I know but they say it's on the cctv and everythings been true so far hasn't it 😥
@SallyWD Yes there is so much analysis now, and that photo keeps popping up on twitter so it's hard to get it out of my head. All the details are so upsetting. At the same time a small part of me understands the dangers so much more now than if it was a sanitised "man dies of heatstroke" story. That would be blissful ignorance.
But now I will definitely be more sensible in the sun and will advise others of the same. Even in death he is helping people. I can't stop watching videos of him talking, he was such a good human!

It's not that he wouldn't be comfortable with a phone.

But even at my age, in my late 40s, I spent much of my life, including my childhood, doing all kinds of things without being tied to a phone.

What's more, all the exciting things like hiking across Europe or going on a wilderness trip or flying to Thailand were all done without a mobile, and often very poor long distance phone service. My father used to be a sailor and could not be contacted for months, except possibly when in port.

I am actually a little perplexed that so many people find the idea of going anywhere without a phone so "risky". These things didn't become more dangerous because cell phones are available.

Even the telling your rout thing - yes, it can be a good idea. But it's often not full-proof because plans change. My husband was away last year on a long canoe trip for two weeks. Of course no cell service, but he did leave a map of where he expected to be. However, about a week into the trip he had to change his plan significantly due to floods.

I think society has actually become mentally ill in terms of risk aversion.

Also people saying he couldn't be contacted to disastrous effects. He died within 2.5 hours and seemingly very quickly once he'd reached the spot he died on. It wasn't like he was lying there alive for hours when he could have been contacted and the alert raised.

It looks so easy on the maps but I imagine those beige, rocky paths all look the same to non-locals.

And MM didn't follow his route. He was going to walk to Pedi and then get the bus. Initially, it was thought something had happened on the walk to Pedi and then they were looking along the route to Simi town. He'd actually gone in the opposite direction.

I think it's unlikely that he fell or collapsed. From what I've read, he was found lying on his back, with his hand on his chest, and his feet up on a rock.

It seems to me that this was intentional. Lying with your feet elevated above the heart is medical advice for heatstroke. If he fell or collapsed I don't think that he would have been in this position.

I haven’t seen anywhere that he was pacing back and forth.

A detailed description of what is on the beach bar CCTV is described by Joe Inwood from the BBC in a report that is up on the BBC news page. That CCTV has been shown to a group of reporters but thankfully not released.

Michael Mosley's plan was developed a lot from the original 2 day diet which was developed by Dr Michelle Harvie in collaboration with Professor Howells.

I think it’s really harsh to call a deceased person stupid/dangerous for walking in a hot country. Loads of people routinely do that on holidays, otherwise the Great Wall would be shut all summer lol! Or people would be dropping dead on it like flies.

Maybe it’s because I’m always cold if it’s under 25 degrees, and I love hot weather….but I’ve gone for all-day mountain hikes, climbed the Great Wall of China, done a 30km bike ride and various other walks in 30-35 degree midday heat. With 1 water bottle, no sunscreen and no walking boots either. Never had heatstroke, heat exhaustion or any symptoms other than mild back sweat. I guess it is a lot worse in your 60s than 20s though. And 40 degrees is probably significantly worse than 30-35. But I’m a bit shocked it’s so easy to die like this as I wouldn’t think twice about going on a hike in a nice hot country on holiday. It makes me think maybe he had a heart attack or other sudden medical event?

You've just been lucky and you're young....

@BreatheAndFocus Thank you so very much for putting that link to the article in. That is, hands down, one of the best articles I've read for years. So well written and well researched, the author has really done a great job there. We could do with a lot more journalism like that.

Thanks, do you mean this one?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/cydd97gz9jgo

Joe doesn’t mention any pacing up and down.

Thing is the mountains I hiked in mid-summer heat were RAMMED with tourists of all ages, up to 60-70. No-one was collapsing or dropping dead, though I guess it was safer as everywhere was lots of people and shops selling food/water. But so many millions people do this sort of thing and are fine, I don’t think what’s happened to him is normal.

It just gets more and more upsetting, looks like he really tried to save himself, that poor poor man. I feel so dreadfully sorry for his wife and family the trauma they must be going through I can’t begin to imagine, it’s bad enough when your husband/parent dies but in such tragic and possibly avoidable circumstances is utterly heartbreaking.

But his plan wasn't a 3 hour hike.

Well that's a totally different scenario then isn't it ...

Yes, not pacing up and down. That sounds too energetic.

I said this upthread, but I'll say it again.

People don't all have the same susceptibility to heat stroke. Think of the soldiers who occasionally die of it on exercises on the Brecon Beacons- they're out with a whole load of others, most of whom escape unscathed.

Or the guy who joined Levison Wood for a leg of his walk along the Nile. Four young men climbed up a shadeless hill on a particularly hot day in Uganda. Three of them were OK, but one of them went from normal to a coma over the course of a mile, dying before they could get him anywhere close to medical help.

One thing that distinguished that man from his 3 companions is that they were all acclimatised to the African heat, whereas he'd flown straight from a NYC winter.

This could well have been a factor for MM too- I gather it was the second day of his holiday.

I wonder how posters think people who live in countries where it is always hot in summer get on? Do they imagine everyone cowers inside until the evenings? People actually work outside in very hot weather in some places.

What he did seems risky, especially being in a hotter country than he is used to and probably taking the wrong turn, however some of these posts are just silly.

@Rubbishconfession Yeah sorry I worded it wrong, pacing indicates speed and flat surface, what I read was that he was going back and forth stumbling over the rocks for half an hr, going back on himself instead of travelling down in a straight line.

Yes in terms of not going off on your own somewhere very secluded, can’t say I’ve done that. But going out in blazing midday heat - millions of people do this, not just on holiday but in many countries construction workers and farmers have to work in these temperatures and do not die. So he may have had some other health problem or emergency that meant this was particularly dangerous for him.

In terms of real-life risks - driving, eating UPF, being obese and even the fire-retardants in our furniture are probably a higher risk to all of us.

When you are out with others, someone can see if you are getting heatstroke and get you help.

And workers outside do die in the heat in very hot countries.