Very interesting, and the sort of thing we should be hearing about in the northern hemisphere.The link here says it’s harder to control your temperature when you get older and heat stroke can quickly cause damage to your heart, brain and other organs.
Heatstroke - Symptoms and causes
www.mayoclinic.org
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The BBC were saying earlier that there is apparently some CCTV of him (which they've been told about, but haven't seen yet) and he can be seen walking/crawling down the path right by where he was found. He then goes out of view behind a fence and then doesn't reappear. So it sounds like he was literally struggling on, right until the last minute, then presumably collapsed from heatstroke and fell at that point, rolling the few metres off the path to the right and coming to rest by the wall/fence at the bottom. Or alternatively, there's also some speculation that rather than carry on straight down the path to the end, where it joins the beach (literally less than 100m to go) , in his desperation he might have tried to take a shortcut to get to the beach club quicker, veering off the path to the right, over the rocky ground and to the fence/wall where he was found. It's incredibly sad.
Sky News now seem to be saying the same thing - dr-michael-mosley-cctv-footage-appears-to-capture-moment-tv-doctor-fell-13150616
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Gosh I always have so much mixed feelings about cctv of people’s final moments. It must help massively with determining what happened but even in a professional capacity it must be incredibly distressing to watch.
It really does sound like he became unwell for a time and was struggling. Walking round for hours, and the rocky path looks like hard work. He seems to have followed the coast, rather than going inland from Pedi to Symi. With those rocks and the midday sun, it’s easy to see how he could become exhausted.
What a horrible way to die! Totally confused and disoriented and prob aware your time is running out! Absolutely tragic that he was so close to help! I can’t imagine how bad his family must feel knowing that he was so close to making it! 
As someone who has been taken ill due to heat a few times in recent years, it's very frightening and I won't travel or go out walking in certain climates now.
So hearing the cause of Michael's death has really, really spooked me as I do have an idea of what it can be like to be extremely affected by heat. I will be even more careful now.
So hearing the cause of Michael's death has really, really spooked me as I do have an idea of what it can be like to be extremely affected by heat. I will be even more careful now.
I had a mild case of heatstroke a few years ago and can't believe how horrible I felt and how quickly. It's just horribly upsetting to think of how he died.
I'm type 2 diabetic, and off most of my medication thanks to Dr Mosley's advice. And finally GP's are seeing the light with low carb diets. I have most of his books and just feel so incredibly sad - it's most odd when someone has a big impact on your life even though you've never met them. I hope his family are now left quietly alone by the media with their grief.
I'm type 2 diabetic, and off most of my medication thanks to Dr Mosley's advice. And finally GP's are seeing the light with low carb diets. I have most of his books and just feel so incredibly sad - it's most odd when someone has a big impact on your life even though you've never met them. I hope his family are now left quietly alone by the media with their grief.
I think there are things for his family to take comfort from:
1 - cctv/coroner result are giving a time of death which means from the point in the walk he started suffering until he became unaware/collapsed, is likely to be less than an hour. So he didn’t ‘suffer’ for long. His body being found in some of the other possible outcomes when he was missing could have meant that he was suffering for days before death (lying in a cave etc)
2 - He was still trying to reach help right until near his final moment, meaning that he still believed he could do it and hadn’t given up on himself. That means he was mentally strong and pushing himself to to survive and wanted to do that for himself and his family. Although physically failing he may have been mentally thinking he was going to get there and not realising it wasn’t doable (which might be why his wife is seeing it as comfort that he ‘nearly made it’)
3 - The wife and friends were going back on the 4pm water taxi, so it’s unlikely they could have even realised he was ‘missing’ until 5pm at the earliest. If there was any debate and self-searching and thinking time before they made the decision to report him as a missing person at 7:30pm, any delays would not have affected the outcome. So they could not have saved him.
the blame here, should actually fall on the island government (although clearly the mayor did an excellent and dedicated job with the search party). This path had a distinct entrance point at the end of a road in a residential street…so why wasn’t it gated off in heat where it is unsafe to walk in? If it’s dangerous even in cooler weather, especially seeing as the island doesn’t have a hospital, why have it open at all? It only leads to one very small hotel/marina. That marina is served by boats not a road, the footpath isn’t safe for general use, maybe hardcore hikers only might generally want to try it, but surely it’s better for the island to just close it off and not have these risks? Gates that open one-way only (so people can exit if they somehow got in, but not enter) would be the solution.
It would be interesting (I haven’t seen it anywhere) to know what the entrance to the path looks like from the Pedi side. Whether there is warning signage and how much of it, (and if so, how clear it is that it’s not a general precaution bit a serious risk of death)
1 - cctv/coroner result are giving a time of death which means from the point in the walk he started suffering until he became unaware/collapsed, is likely to be less than an hour. So he didn’t ‘suffer’ for long. His body being found in some of the other possible outcomes when he was missing could have meant that he was suffering for days before death (lying in a cave etc)
2 - He was still trying to reach help right until near his final moment, meaning that he still believed he could do it and hadn’t given up on himself. That means he was mentally strong and pushing himself to to survive and wanted to do that for himself and his family. Although physically failing he may have been mentally thinking he was going to get there and not realising it wasn’t doable (which might be why his wife is seeing it as comfort that he ‘nearly made it’)
3 - The wife and friends were going back on the 4pm water taxi, so it’s unlikely they could have even realised he was ‘missing’ until 5pm at the earliest. If there was any debate and self-searching and thinking time before they made the decision to report him as a missing person at 7:30pm, any delays would not have affected the outcome. So they could not have saved him.
the blame here, should actually fall on the island government (although clearly the mayor did an excellent and dedicated job with the search party). This path had a distinct entrance point at the end of a road in a residential street…so why wasn’t it gated off in heat where it is unsafe to walk in? If it’s dangerous even in cooler weather, especially seeing as the island doesn’t have a hospital, why have it open at all? It only leads to one very small hotel/marina. That marina is served by boats not a road, the footpath isn’t safe for general use, maybe hardcore hikers only might generally want to try it, but surely it’s better for the island to just close it off and not have these risks? Gates that open one-way only (so people can exit if they somehow got in, but not enter) would be the solution.
It would be interesting (I haven’t seen it anywhere) to know what the entrance to the path looks like from the Pedi side. Whether there is warning signage and how much of it, (and if so, how clear it is that it’s not a general precaution bit a serious risk of death)
I bet there’s a sign there now, if there wasn’t before. I think there’s a monastery just off the coast that way too, it could be a local path which a local wouldn’t take in the summer heat.
There is nobody to blame, and certainly not the government. It would be a nanny state overreaction to deny freedom to walk on a path because of an accident.
I agree. And the Mayor, the police, and local people tried so hard to help.
Tragically, for whatever reasons, MM did not make the best decisions that day. I have to admit, I’m baffled as to what would have made him decide to walk back in that extreme heat, rather than wait for the boat. Indeed, I’m willing to bet that locals wouldn’t be out at all in those temperatures unless they had to be.
On any other day, he might have reached his destination feeling very ill, and lived to tell the tale of just how dangerous extreme heat can be.
It’s very very sad that fate was against him this time.
I do wonder whether he’d missed a bus, maybe gone to the Marina a to ask about a boat, found nothing and didn’t want to walk back on himself from the Marina to the symi path.
It’s been baffling me that he tried to battle home alone on foot, when he must have already been feeling the ill effects of the heat, without asking for help.
But you could be right there; he could indeed have thought he’d get the bus home, or some other way of transport.
I could see how, maybe he asked about a bus and none was due (bus stop witness) instead of turning at the restaurant and walking to Symi, h Carrie on along the sea to pedi Marina, no water taxis there (middle of the day, they already out or having a siesta) he thought the coast path from Agios Nicolas was ok so just thought he’d carry on this coast path to Symi, there’s a stop on the way at Agia Marina.
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Everything I have read in the past few days said that the paths were pretty inaccessible and no one uses them, they use a boat to get from the villages to the beach instead. The reports said that the locals were baffled he would set off to walk on those paths, especially in that level of heat.
So it doesn't seem to me that he just set off for a leisurely stroll back to his accommodation, there must be more to it than that. Either something happened (argument etc.) to make him set off to walk, or perhaps he really wanted a challenge. But that also seems odd because he wasn't really dressed for a challenge, he was wearing trainers rather than walking boots, he was carrying an umbrella, no phone etc.
I suppose we may never actually find out. His family don't have to tell the press all of the details and it's not really any of our business.
So it doesn't seem to me that he just set off for a leisurely stroll back to his accommodation, there must be more to it than that. Either something happened (argument etc.) to make him set off to walk, or perhaps he really wanted a challenge. But that also seems odd because he wasn't really dressed for a challenge, he was wearing trainers rather than walking boots, he was carrying an umbrella, no phone etc.
I suppose we may never actually find out. His family don't have to tell the press all of the details and it's not really any of our business.
This google review has a really good description and photos of the walk from Pedi that is the route people should take, with pics of the red and blue marked rocks that were mentioned in the press. So people do take this route but it shouldn’t be taken lightly.
maps.app.goo.gl
Google review of Holy Monastery of Saint Marina by karen s
★★★★★ "Beautiful monastery on small island ~50 yards from Symi, which is only accessible by small boat or by hike & swim (only try this route if you are in good physical condition). To get there by hiking & swimming: start at Pedi Beach and follow the coastal road that heads North and then...
The one consolation we can take from this is that lives may be saved with someone so high profile dying from heat stroke.
I must admit I have thought to myself MM did a silly thing but he was obviously fit because the press said he walked that fit bit of coastal path to Pedi in 15 minutes.
But then I remember a weekend away we had last year, the weather in October was unseasonly warm and we walked and walked until suddenly I felt really ill. We found a pub, sat inside and had some drinks and a little food until I felt better.
I'm pre diabetic too which most probably caused it because I’ve never experienced that before. I must lose a stone so I’m going to try harder now in his honour.
Thank you, if this is what he was trying to do then that makes more sense. It was just an error of judgement that he decided to go by himself, in the heat and probably not as well prepared as he ought to have been. Perhaps no one else in their party wanted to go and he really wanted to see the monastery.This google review has a really good description and photos of the walk from Pedi that is the route people should take, with pics of the red and blue marked rocks that were mentioned in the press. So people do take this route but it shouldn’t be taken lightly.
Google review of Holy Monastery of Saint Marina by karen s
★★★★★ "Beautiful monastery on small island ~50 yards from Symi, which is only accessible by small boat or by hike & swim (only try this route if you are in good physical condition). To get there by hiking & swimming: start at Pedi Beach and follow the coastal road that heads North and then...
Wow that’s an interesting find, thank you. A massive gate as well.This google review has a really good description and photos of the walk from Pedi that is the route people should take, with pics of the red and blue marked rocks that were mentioned in the press. So people do take this route but it shouldn’t be taken lightly.
Google review of Holy Monastery of Saint Marina by karen s
★★★★★ "Beautiful monastery on small island ~50 yards from Symi, which is only accessible by small boat or by hike & swim (only try this route if you are in good physical condition). To get there by hiking & swimming: start at Pedi Beach and follow the coastal road that heads North and then...