OPINION - Dr Michael Mosley had a lesson for us, even in his tragic death on a Greek island
It was somehow characteristic of Michael Mosley that even his tragic death should be a lesson for the rest of us. There will be lots of Britons on holiday this summer who will be that bit more careful in the deadly heat of their resort, that bit more inclined to stay indoors when the sun is hottest because of him. Not to put too fine a point on it, his death may yet save the lives of others.
The quite extraordinary outburst of interest and emotion in the broadcaster’s death, over and above the attention the BBC always gives the passing of one of its own, tells us quite a lot.
The secret of his success was the radical simplicity of his approach as a doctor who was always there for you
Granted it was the drama of his disappearance and the increasingly desperate search for him, concluding with the discovery that he was just 100 yards from safety when he died, which fuelled public interest in his fate. It seemed so utterly poignant for a man who told everyone else how to live longer to die this way. The secret of his success with so many people was, I think, the radical simplicity of his approach as a doctor who was always there for you.
In a febrile world in which so many things conspire against us and are outside our control, he gave readers and listeners a sense that there are some things you can do. Even though you can’t change politics, you can change your outcomes — your health and sense of wellbeing — by doing something small and concrete. For the overweight, the genius simplicity of the 5:2 diet was transformative. We all know we should eat less and exercise more; well, here was a diet plan which even the dimmest among us could get our heads round — intermittent fasting.
In fact it turns out that the way to lose weight is even more simple: eat less, consume fewer calories. But the intermittent fasting thing was a way to achieve that end and so it worked.
The same goes for the brilliant formula: Just One Thing. We can’t control the climate, we can’t control the cost of living, but we can control the amount of coffee we consume — and whaddya know, it turns out it’s good for you. You can’t get your gas bill down, but you can eat more slowly or breathe out longer.
And Mosley, by giving people a sense of agency, of control over their destiny one way at a time, gave them with it a renewed confidence.
So, it’s Just One Last Thing. Do not go out in the midday sun (mad dogs and Englishmen), in places like Greece and if you do, make sure you wear something hi-viz so that helicopters will identify you when they’re hovering overhead.
Thank you, Michael Mosley.
Melanie McDonagh is an Evening Standard columnist
