RHODES, Greece (AP) — Dr. Michael Mosley was his own guinea pig.
The British television presenter put his body to the test in the name of science by swallowing tapeworms, injecting snake venom and letting leeches suck his blood.
What didn’t kill him made him more popular, reaching millions through BBC programs such as “Trust Me, I’m a Doctor”, other programs on television and radio, and best-selling diet books.
Ultimately, he died while walking under the scorching sun on the Greek island where he was vacationing.
Greek police said on Monday that there was no sign of foul play, but an autopsy was ongoing to find the cause.
Here are some things you need to know about Mosley:
He was just a few steps away from reaching the beach
Mosley, 67, was found dead on Sunday, four days after he went missing on the island of Symi.
His wife said he took the wrong route and collapsed in what was supposed to be a short walk to the next town.
The road would take him over or alongside a steep, unforgiving slope littered with rocks and with no shelter from heat that reached 37 Celsius (98.6 Fahrenheit).
His body was found several dozen steps below the water.
“He almost succeeded in reaching his goal,” Symi Mayor Lefteris Papakalodoukas said in his statement to Greek Alpha television. “He was only 10 meters (33 feet) from the beach. But that must have been when his strength left him.”
Dr. Clare Bailey Mosley said her family took comfort in knowing her husband almost made it to safety.
“He made an incredible climb, took the wrong route and collapsed where he could not be easily seen by the extensive search team,” he said in a statement.
Banker who is a doctor but not a doctor
After graduating from Oxford University, Mosley became an investment banker before returning to school to become a doctor. However, after qualifying for a career in medicine, he underwent another dramatic career change. He trained as an assistant producer at the BBC and eventually turned to a career in front of the camera.
Mosley was widely admired for his ability to clearly convey complex science and his willingness to be the subject of experiments that made others shudder.
BBC’s “Invaded! “Living with parasites,” he swallowed the tapeworm cysts. He used a “pill camera” to explore its insides, and for the first time watched the tapeworms clinging to his intestines on an iPad at an Indian restaurant.
“I shouted: ‘Wow! There’s a tapeworm inside me!’ “The other customers looked very surprised,” he said. “I was so happy, but it was also pretty scary.”
When he was diagnosed with stage 2 diabetes in 2012, Mosley turned to health science and developed a diet that beat the diagnosis, forming the basis of one of his books.
He later popularized intermittent fasting and low-carb meals with his 2013 book “Fast Diet,” which he wrote with journalist Mimi Spencer and recommended the so-called “5:2 diet” to minimize calories on two days a week. The other five are eating healthy.
The “Just One Thing” radio series, launched in 2021, advocated for simple changes that can transform health and well-being.
“I remember him as a bright spark that, although sadly now extinguished, will continue to live on through his influential ‘Just One Thing,’” said Mark Miodownik, a professor of materials science at University College London who worked with Mosley. “He is one of the best and most effective communicators science has lost. His connection and warmth with the audience was extraordinary.”
Tireless search by air, land and water
The search for Mosley began after Mosley left his wife and friends and went for a walk on the Agios Nikolaos beach near where he was staying, but did not return.
Searchers on foot, divers in the water, helicopters and drones from above, and teams scouring the shore with boats spent four days searching for Mosley.
CCTV footage of what is believed to be his last known sighting showed him walking through a village with a black umbrella over his head to protect himself from the sun.
But footage released on Monday showed him climbing down a rock slope next to a fence and then disappearing from where his body was later found.
On Sunday, a boat with the mayor and a group of journalists was scanning the rugged slope when a cameraman spotted something dark among the rocks.
The mayor took a photo of the camera screen and zoomed in.
“It has good resolution,” he said. “He was the missing man.”
Agia Marina bar manager Ilias Tsavaris said he climbed the hillside after receiving a call from the boat telling him to confirm the sighting.
“When I went up I saw what looked like a body,” he said. “You don’t see bodies every day, this is not a war zone, it’s summer, you need to have fun and swim.”
Clare Bailey Mosley thanked the people of Simi who tirelessly searched for a man they did not know.
“Some of these people on the island who had never even heard of Michael worked from dawn to dusk without being asked,” he said.
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Melley reported from London. Associated Press writer Costas Kantouris contributed from Thessaloniki, Greece.