Reports Editorial Comment Obituary The man who changed how we eat
Max Stephens
Daniel Hardaker
DR MICHAEL MOSLEY’S body lay undiscovered just yards from a beach resort for nearly five days, it emerged yesterday, as his wife said he “so very nearly made it” to safety.
The broadcaster and author was found dead yesterday morning after his disappearance on the Greek island of Symi last Wednesday caused a major search and rescue operation.
CCTV footage showed Mosley gingerly walking down a rocky mountain near the perimeter fence of the Agia Marina resort before appearing to stumble and fall out of view, just over two hours after he left his wife and friends.
His wife, Clare Bailey Mosley, paid tribute to her “wonderful, funny, kind and brilliant husband”. She said: “We’re taking comfort in the fact that he so very nearly made it. He did an incredible climb, took the wrong route and collapsed
in Symi, and
where he couldn’t be easily seen by the extensive search team.”
The coroner said an initial examination had ruled out foul play as there were “no obvious injuries” to Mosley’s body, adding: “It looks like it was a fall.”
A spokesman for the coroner said they would need to establish whether he had a “medical episode”.
A police source said they had ruled out any possibility of criminality but that it was currently impossible to determine the cause of the death. Tributes from friends and colleagues poured in for Dr Mosley who popularised the 5:2 diet. Jamie Oliver, the celebrity chef, said he was a “wonderfully sweet, kind and gentle man” who “did such a lot of good for public health”.
Writing in today’s Telegraph, his friend Dr Tim Spector, the epidemiologist, said Mosley’s “humble, calm and self-deprecating style as he carefully explained complex science in simple terms, [was] why the public loved him.”
Mosley had been on holiday when he left his wife and their friends at the St Nicholas beach bar at 1.30pm on Wednesday to walk back to their holiday villa in temperatures of 40C (104F).
He walked past a cafe in the village of Pedi at 1.52pm before apparently taking a wrong turn and embarking upon a treacherous mountainous path.
His wife raised the alarm at 7.30pm that evening, causing a major search operation involving the coastguard, police, firefighters, divers, drones and