A British journalist described the harrowing moment he found the body of of Michael Mosley, a television personality and doctor, on a Greek beach Sunday morning.
The reporter, Ed Southgate, recalled the tragic discovery in a column for The Sun, a British tabloid. He called the moment “horrifying and incredibly overwhelming,” and said it was “among the saddest stories” he had the misfortune of working on.
“I was hit by an intense shock and sadness,” he recalled of seeing Mosley’s body alongside a dropped umbrella. “I felt sick and at several points I was on the verge of tears.”
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Southgate said that he and a Sun photographer were on the island of Symi “to film a piece explaining the latest development” when a local bar manager spotted the diet doctor’s body and flagged the pair down.
Greek officials believe Mosley fell down the rocky slope to his death, according to the Associated Press.
A police spokesperson previously said Mosley’s remains were found by a group on a boat that included the local mayor and members of the media—though Southgate’s column appeared to suggest that he and the bar manager were on the beach when they made the grisly discovery. He did not address the apparent discrepancy, though he did describe the scene as “chaotic.”
Southgate wrote that he immediately “dashed back” to a nearby beach bar to alert others that a body had been located.
“Search parties were looking so close to this area in the previous days without noticing his exposed body, and even a low-flying helicopter had scoured the terrain,” Southgate wrote. “But he was never found.”
The loss of the popular television personality and diet doctor rattled both his family and many fans.
“Michael was an adventurous man, it’s part of what made him so special,” his wife, Dr. Clare Bailey Mosley, said in a statement, according to the Associated Press. “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.”
In a long TV career, Mosley earned a reputation for making himself the guinea pig in popular science experiments. He is perhaps best known for popularizing the “5:2 diet,” which holds that eating regularly for five days a week and limiting calorie intake during the other two days can help lead to weight loss.
A number of celebrities have endorsed the method, including Benedict Cumberbatch, Jimmy Kimmel, and even Beyoncé.
Mosley also wrote a regular column at The Daily Mail, another British tabloid.
Read it at The Sun
