Michael Mosley’s death reminded me of what an ER doctor once told me

Senior writer

June 15, 2024 — 5.30am

A friend, a Scottish radiologist, used to remark on the number of patients whose scans he would examine, where the medical notes would begin: “This 60-something man was just trying to …”

The dot dot dot would often involve intrepid souls losing their balance on a ladder, toppling off a roof, or otherwise coming to grief undertaking tasks around the house, farm or garden which they’d once performed with nimble ease.

Dr Michael Mosley in a series about battling insomnia and sleep apnoea.

Dr Michael Mosley in a series about battling insomnia and sleep apnoea.CREDIT:SBS

Another mate, an emergency doctor on Sydney’s north shore, reports that his work last weekend was dominated by sporting injuries to 14-year-old boys and DIY injuries to men in their 60s.

A few years ago, my own partner was one of those men, falling off a ladder on a second-storey balcony while trying to saw off an overhanging tree branch. The much younger tree surgeon was due to come the following day, but what the heck, why wait? (Luckily a neighbour heard the thump that accompanied my partner’s fall and helped organise an ambulance. He returned home a few days later having recovered from concussion, but with pride severely dented.) The doctors in the ER said they couldn’t count the number of times they’d treated men in their 60s presenting after similar mishaps.

I couldn’t help reflecting on this following the untimely death of much-loved 67-year-old British TV doctor and popular health guru Michael Mosley, who perished after an ill-advised trek across the arid slopes of the Greek island of Symi 10 days ago.

Of course, we don’t know, and are unlikely ever to know, whether Mosley accidentally took a wrong turn or purposefully decided to pick his way through baking, rock-strewn terrain for more than two hours in the hottest part of the early afternoon. He was an Englishman, after all, who’d only arrived the day before from a mild British summer and perhaps forgot, or thought he could beat, the force of the Greek sun.

But it is also possible he was in that same category of person who’d featured in my Scottish friend’s medical notes – determined to push his body to the limit. And yet, it was those same adventurous instincts which delivered in spades for health science and his TV audiences. If only he’d taken a cue from the locals, enjoying a slow coffee in the shade of the town square while the sun gradually spent its heat.

Broadly speaking, the trend towards vigorous exercise well into one’s later decades is entirely admirable. No one wants to be confined to the walker or the rocking chair for the last 20 years of life if they can avoid it. But the modern truism that 80 is the new 60, and 60 is the new 40, ignores the fact that not everyone’s body is going to get the memo.

Some manage to beat their chronological age into submission better than others. Exhibit A: the perpetually sinuous Mick Jagger, touring the United States and Canada at the age of 80 and still able to dance up a storm. The venerable Paul McCartney continues to leave audiences rapt.

But when you see Rupert Murdoch tying the knot for the fifth time at the age of 93, with a woman 26 years his junior, you have to assume he’s forgotten what’s written on his birth certificate. It’s terrific that Steven Spielberg is still making films in his late 70s, but was anyone really convinced by Harrison Ford stepping back into the action-man role at 80?

A Rolling Stone gathers no moss, even at 80.

A Rolling Stone gathers no moss, even at 80.CREDIT:PAUL R. GIUNTA/INVISION/AP

Coupled with all this striving is the mania for ticking ever more weird and wonderful personal milestones off one’s bucket list. Last week my eye was caught by a BBC headline that read “Veteran finishes Everest marathon in citrus outfit”. I checked the date of the story to make sure it wasn’t reheated from April 1. It wasn’t. The intrepid Sally Orange, a former army major, had not only raced around the Everest circuit dressed as a lemon, but is said to have run a marathon on seven continents dressed as a vegetable or fruit. Now with that record, Sally is quite likely to make it into her 70s or 80s running marathons. And good on her. But you would have to say she is an outlier.

Far more depressing are the hordes of cashed-up strivers determined to round out life’s bingo card by getting to the top of Mount Everest – leaving a trail of refuse, human waste and, occasionally, bodies behind them. Nepalese authorities are reportedly trying to enforce new rules requiring climbers to carry at least eight kilograms of garbage when they come back down from the mountain, a small attempt to repair the damage wrought by these grimly labouring over-achievers. I do, however, have a sneaking admiration for 85-year-old Nepalese man Min Bahadur Sherchan, who died in 2017 while trying to regain his title as the oldest person to climb the sacred mountain.

Finally (and I admit, provocatively), one has to ask why it’s usually the 60-something man coming to grief and not the 60-something woman. Dare one suggest that those 60-something men have more in common with their 14-year-old selves than the average mature-age woman has with her adolescent counterpart?

Deborah Snow is associate editor and special writer at The Sydney Morning Herald.

迈克尔·莫斯利（Michael Mosley）的死让我想起了一位急诊医生曾经告诉我的话

资深作家

2024 年 6 月 15 日 — 凌晨 5 点 30 分

一位朋友，一位苏格兰放射科医生，曾经评论过他将要检查的扫描患者数量，医疗记录将从哪里开始：“这个 60 多岁的男人只是想……”

点滴通常涉及勇敢的灵魂在梯子上失去平衡，从屋顶上摔下来，或者以其他方式悲伤地承担他们曾经灵活轻松地完成的任务。

迈克尔·莫斯利（Michael Mosley）博士在关于与失眠和睡眠呼吸暂停作斗争的系列中。

迈克尔·莫斯利（Michael Mosley）博士在关于与失眠和睡眠呼吸暂停作斗争的系列中。图片来源：SBS

另一位同伴是悉尼北岸的一名急诊医生，他报告说，他上周末的工作主要是14岁男孩的运动损伤和60多岁男性的DIY伤害。

几年前，我自己的伴侣就是其中之一，在试图锯掉一根悬垂的树枝时，从二楼阳台的梯子上摔了下来。年轻得多的树木外科医生第二天就要来了，但到底是什么，为什么要等呢？（幸运的是，一位邻居听到了伴随我伴侣摔倒的砰砰声，并帮助组织了一辆救护车。几天后，他从脑震荡中恢复过来，回到了家，但自尊心受到了严重打击。急诊室的医生说，他们无法计算他们治疗60多岁男性的次数，这些男性在类似的事故后出现。

在备受喜爱的 67 岁英国电视医生和受欢迎的健康大师迈克尔·莫斯利 （Michael Mosley） 英年早逝后，我不禁反思了这一点，他在 10 天前在希腊锡米岛干旱的山坡上进行了一次不明智的跋涉后丧生。

当然，我们不知道，也不太可能知道，莫斯利是不小心转错了弯，还是故意决定在傍晚最热的时候在烘烤的、布满岩石的地形中挑选出路两个多小时。毕竟，他是一个英国人，前一天才从英国一个温和的夏天来到这里，也许忘记了，或者认为他可以打败希腊的太阳。

但也有可能他和我苏格兰朋友的医疗记录中出现的那一类人一样——决心将自己的身体推向极限。然而，正是这些冒险的本能为健康科学和他的电视观众带来了巨大的帮助。要是他能从当地人那里得到启示就好了，在城市广场的树荫下享受着慢咖啡，而太阳逐渐消磨了它的热量。

从广义上讲，在一个人的晚年进行剧烈运动的趋势是完全令人钦佩的。如果可以避免的话，没有人愿意在生命的最后 20 年里被限制在助行器或摇椅上。但是，80岁是新的60岁，60岁是新的40岁的现代老生常谈，忽略了一个事实，即不是每个人的身体都会得到备忘录。

有些人设法比其他人更好地克服他们的实际年龄。展品A：永远蜿蜒曲折的米克·贾格尔（Mick Jagger），在80岁时在美国和加拿大巡回演出，仍然能够在风暴中跳舞。受人尊敬的保罗·麦卡特尼（Paul McCartney）继续让观众大吃一惊。

但是，当你看到鲁珀特·默多克（Rupert Murdoch）在93岁时与一个比他小26岁的女人第五次喜结连理时，你不得不假设他已经忘记了出生证明上写了什么。史蒂文·斯皮尔伯格 （Steven Spielberg） 在 70 多岁时仍在制作电影真是太棒了，但有人真的相信哈里森·福特 （Harrison Ford） 在 80 岁时重新扮演动作片角色吗？

滚石乐队不会长苔藓，即使在 80 岁时也是如此。

滚石乐队没有苔藓，即使在 80 岁时也是如此。

除了所有这些努力之外，还有一种狂热，即从一个人的遗愿清单上勾选更多奇怪和美妙的个人里程碑。上周，英国广播公司（BBC）的标题吸引了我的目光，上面写着“退伍军人穿着柑橘装完成珠穆朗玛峰马拉松”。我检查了故事的日期，以确保它没有从 4 月 1 日开始重新加热。事实并非如此。勇敢的前陆军少校莎莉·奥兰治（Sally Orange）不仅打扮成柠檬在珠穆朗玛峰赛道上比赛，而且据说还打扮成蔬菜或水果在七大洲跑过马拉松。现在有了这个记录，莎莉很有可能进入她 70 多岁或 80 多岁的马拉松比赛。对她很好。但你不得不说她是个异类。

更令人沮丧的是成群结队的现金奋斗者，他们决心通过登上珠穆朗玛峰的顶峰来完善生活中的宾果卡——在他们身后留下一堆垃圾、人类排泄物，偶尔还有尸体。据报道，尼泊尔当局正试图执行新规定，要求登山者从山上回来时至少携带8公斤垃圾，这是为了弥补这些辛勤工作的超额完成者造成的损害。然而，我确实对 85 岁的尼泊尔男子 Min Bahadur Sherchan 有一种偷偷的钦佩，他于 2017 年在试图重新获得攀登圣山最年长者的头衔时去世。

最后（我承认，挑衅性地），人们不得不问为什么通常是60多岁的男人来悲伤，而不是60多岁的女人。有人敢说，那些60多岁的男人与14岁的自己比普通成熟女性与青春期的自己有更多的共同点吗？

黛博拉·斯诺（Deborah Snow）是《悉尼先驱晨报》的副主编和特约撰稿人。

讨论列表 查看原帖及回帖