Michael Mosley's death 'puts everything into perspective' says Belfast colleague who thought it was 'experiment'

A Belfast professor who knew Dr Michael Mosley thought it was an "experiment" when he first went missing. BBC TV presenter Dr Michael Mosley went for a hike on Wednesday, June 5, on the Greek island of Symi.

The 67-year-old had gone out alone and when he hadn't returned some six hours later, his wife Dr Clare Bailey Mosley reported his disappearance to Greek authorities.

When Mike Rogan, who now lives in Liverpool, first heard of Dr Mosley's disappearance, he initially wondered if it could be another one of the dad-of-four's challenges.

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Originally from East Belfast, the 68-year-old told the ECHO: "It was a crazy feeling when I first heard the news. It puts it all into perspective - how an everyday thing such as walking in high temperatures can make such a difference."

"We've all been on holiday or hot places like Greece and wondered about ourselves so it just puts it all into perspective."

"At first, it was interesting because I thought it was an experiment with Michael maybe looking at the impact dehydration can have on the body.

"This obviously wasn't the case, but you can almost see him analysing what was happening to his body in those final moments because that is the type of person he was."

Mike first met Dr Mosley ten years ago when he deliberately let a two-metre-long tapeworm, from Kenya, live in his gut for months.

The presenter wanted to understand how parasites affect the human body and in order to do so, swallowed tapeworm cysts, stuck a leech on his arm and tried to infest himself with lice for a BBC Four documentary programme.

The stool samples were given to Mike and his colleagues at the University of Salford - who at the time, were thought to be the only group conducting such studies.

Mike, who is now retired, said: "It was interesting because anybody who is a parasitologist wonders what it is like to be infected."

"With Michael, it gave us a supply of information we could use to work on our diagnostics tests as this was someone we knew what day he had been infected and how long it would take to show up positive on the tests."

"It supplied us with some really good material to work with. We got to know him when we went to the pub for lunch. He chatted away, he was a lovely guy. Never too intrusive or over-stating. He was genuinely interested in the science behind it all."

Dr Mosley is known for his unconventional medical journalism. He has previously tested "truth serum", trialled magic mushrooms and undergone the fasting 5:2 diet.

Mike said Dr Mosley's death will be a "massive" loss for the field. The dad's body was discovered by a cameraman on Sunday morning after a widespread search by emergency services.

Mike added: "He had this unique ability to bring across difficult concepts in simple ways to allow everyone to understand in a very easy-going way. It was a pleasure to have the small interaction I had with him."

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