EXCLUSIVEDr Michael Mosley's friend and Zoe App pioneer Tim Spector says they were due to meet this week to record a new podcast and reveals the Mail health guru was set to tackle mental health as his new project
'We were going to meet tomorrow', Dr Michael Mosley's close friend Tim Spector reveals with grief.
The Zoe App pioneer, 65, and the Mail columnist, 67, planned to catch up on Wednesday after his Greek holiday and record a podcast on improving sleep.
But today Professor Spector is mourning the death of his 'generous' and 'amazingly positive' friend - in what he called a 'freak accident' that has 'devastated' his family, friends and legions of fans.
Mail columnist Michael died of heat exhaustion after sitting down to rest on a mountain slope before losing consciousness as temperatures hit 40C on the island of Symi. The 67-year-old health guru was found five days after he vanished last Wednesday, just yards from the shelter of a beach club.
British epidemiologist Tim Spector is bereft that he passed away in such tragic circumstances, but he admits, with great sadness, that his friend was prone to taking risks.
When asked what he would have said to his friend before that fateful hike, he said poignantly: ‘I would say: “Oh Michael, don’t be daft".'
He went on: ‘His death was shocking. It is a freak accident. But when people said he had gone for a walk on his own, with no phone, I can see how that could happen with him.
‘It is the sort of thing that he would do. He wasn’t very aware of dangers and not frightened of putting himself at risk. You can see that from the things that he did on TV'.
Professor Spector also told MailOnline that he was sure Dr Mosley, an 'impressive extrovert on-stage' who was 'quite shy' away from the limelight, would never retire and improving the mental health of the nation was to be his next passion project over the coming 20 years.
Dr Michael Mosley and his close friend Professor Tim Spector, co-founder of the Zoe App, were due to meet and record a podcast on Wednesday
The friends together at the Hay festival earlier this year
Michael Mosley with his wife Dr Clare Bailey. The couple are close to Professor Spector and his wife Dr Veronique Bataille
‘He had no great regard for his personal safety and was absent minded.
'He could have been hit by a bus, or got cancer, and we would have had the same result, but it is a great tragedy they way it has happened’.
On TV Dr Mosley ate tapeworms, took ice baths, fasted for long periods and stayed awake for days all in the name of science - and Michael's wife Dr Clare Bailey Mosley stepping in to prevent him doing anything too 'daft', Tim said.
He told MailOnline that his friend did do things on the spur of the moment.
Tim reveals that while Michael made his name improving the diets and eating habits of millions in Britain and around the world, he had new plans for the coming year.
‘I believe mental health was going to be next. He had been trying to get into that. He was reading lots on the subject', he said.
‘It was taking longer than usual as he was studying the brain and mental health as well as depression and its impact on food and eating.
‘He was also interested in dreams.
‘Michael was never going to retire. He could have carried on for another 20 years and helped many more people’.
He added: ‘Michael was also really enjoying his live performances and tours. He was planning to go to Australia with his wife and I know they were looking forward to it’.
Dr Mosley was found dead on the Greek island of Symi on Sunday morning after taking the wrong turn onto a mountain path
Dr Mosley was captured on CCTV carrying an umbrella in the town of Pedi before he made a wrong turn onto a mountain path
Footage shows Dr Michael Mosley, 67, walking past a house with a tarpaulin covered speedboat sitting on the road
Michael and Tim had met 20 years ago when filming a TV documentary at St Thomas’ Hospital in London on ageing.
They immediately hit it off and Dr Mosley was fascinated by his research on twins.
Michael was 'quite shy and took time to know well' - but he said that they became very close, as did their wives.
He has praised his 'friendship and generosity' as well as his 'positivity'.
The friends were due to meet on Wednesday, but tragically there is now a gap in his busy diary.
Tim said: ‘We were due to meet tomorrow to record a podcast. I am trying to come to terms with it. But it is such a terrible tragedy for his family, who he loved so much’.
He said that he had spoken to Michael’s widow via text but would not be travelling to Greece as he wanted to give them privacy and peace.
‘Michael and I were close friends and our wives got on very well too. It is very sad’, he said.
Michael's wife, four children and friends are all mourning his passing last week.
Police believe Dr Michael Mosley died of heat exhaustion after sitting down to rest on a mountain slope before losing consciousness as temperatures hit 40C.
The 67-year-old health guru was found five days after he disappeared while on holiday with his wife on the Greek island of Symi on Wednesday afternoon.
His body lay alongside a low wall at the Agia beach resort, with security footage showing that he was only a minute away from safety.
A post mortem yesterday proved inconclusive with the coroner only saying foul play had been ruled out.
But a police commander in Symi, Dimos Kotsidaras, said it is believed ‘the cause of death was heat exhaustion after walking from St Nikolos to Agia Marina in high temperatures’.
Initially it was assumed he slipped and struck his head after succumbing to the heat during a two-hour hike over mountains.
In a statement, his wife of nearly 40 years, Dr Clare Bailey, said ‘we’re taking comfort in the fact that he so very nearly made it’.
He was discovered just 80 yards away from the sea and the resort itself. Police sources believe he died after falling over and possibly hitting his head.
Footage from the marina, seen by the Daily Mail, shows him apparently disorientated as he slowly trudged along the resort’s perimeter fence. He then disappears from view, apparently because he slipped.
He had set out on his hike with just a single small bottle of water two hours 15 minutes earlier.
This map shows the different paths across the Greek island which were available
Dr Michael Mosley carried with him a small bottle of water as he made his tragic trek across the mountains. The map above reveals his final moments
His body was discovered here just a mere 260ft from a beach resort and safety
Yesterday, as his many friends shared memories of the ‘national treasure’, his wife was taken by boat to Rhodes, where the coroner is based, to identify his body. Earlier, her heartfelt statement made plain her family’s desolation.
‘I don’t know quite where to begin with this,’ she said. ‘It’s devastating to have lost Michael, my wonderful, funny, kind and brilliant husband. We had an incredibly lucky life together. We loved each other very much and were so happy together. I am incredibly proud of our children, their resilience and support over the past days.
‘My family and I have been hugely comforted by the outpouring of love from people from around the world. It’s clear that Michael meant a huge amount to so many of you.’
Yesterday Ted Verity, Editor of Mail Newspapers, said: ‘Everyone at the Mail is absolutely devastated to hear of the death of Dr Michael Mosley.
‘Michael wasn’t just a unique and unmissable columnist. He was part of the Mail family.’
At lunchtime last Wednesday the 67-year-old diet guru took a disastrous wrong turn as he walked back to his friends’ home in Symi town on the holiday island. Twenty minutes earlier he waved goodbye to his wife who returned by water taxi.
The direct route back to Symi town should have taken around 40 minutes on foot. But with the sun hammering down from a cloudless sky and the temperature 37C (98F), Dr Mosley headed in the opposite direction up a mountain path.
It earlier emerged that Dr Mosley’s grown-up children, who flew in from the UK on Friday, were just 350ft away from where the body was found when they retraced their father’s steps on Saturday.
‘He did an incredible climb, took the wrong route and collapsed where he couldn’t be easily seen by the extensive search team,’ said his wife. ‘Michael was an adventurous man, it’s part of what made him so special. We are so grateful to the extraordinary people on Symi who have worked tirelessly to help find him. Some of these people on the island, who hadn’t even heard of Michael, worked from dawn till dusk unasked.’
