Final Dr Michael Mosley interview reveals he learnt about health to avoid dying ‘early’ like his father

Before his death, Dr Michael Mosley had told how his drive to maintain his own health stemmed from not wanting to die “early” like his father, who lived to 74.

In one of his final interviews before he passed away aged 67, the much-loved Mail columnist and TV doctor said his own father, Bill, “hadn’t seen his grandkids grow up”.

“I thought, that’s not a road I want to go down,” Dr Mosley added.

The father-of-four – whose TV series have included examining tips from “super-agers” on how to stay young – told how his father, a banker, developed diabetes in his 50s, just as he too went on to do.

“My dad, when he retired, basically sat on the sofa and watched sport and that was incredibly bad for him,” Dr Mosley said in an interview with the Daily Telegraph in April.

In one of his influential columns for the Daily Mail, the health guru detailed how his father’s later years were also “blighted” by “invasive” surgery to remove his prostate after a blood test found raised levels of PSA – a protein produced by the prostate gland.

“In fact, he died of unrelated heart failure several years after the operation,” Dr Mosley wrote in an article reproduced in yesterday’s Daily Mail.

Determined to learn from losing his father, after being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes himself in 2012, Dr Mosley changed his lifestyle.

He succeeded in both beating the disease and inspiring countless others to follow his example with his influential Blood Sugar and 5:2 diets.

Explaining how it spurred him into creating what may be his most lasting legacy, Dr Mosley told the interviewer: “When my GP told me I should start medication, it shouldn’t have been a shock, because my dad had developed diabetes around the same age.

“And he then died. I shouldn’t have been shocked, but I was,” he continued.

I had seen what had happened to my father. He had died at 74, which is early these days. That feels young. He hadn’t seen his grandkids grow up.

Also influenced by the death of his father was Dr Mosley’s refusal to consider retirement.

“I’m 67 and a lot of my mates are now retired,” he said.

Adding that neither he nor his wife of nearly 40 years and frequent collaborator, Dr Clare Bailey Mosley, had “any intention of giving up work”, he asked: “Why would you give up? I am quite happy to go on writing and giving public speeches and making telly and podcasts.”

Dr Mosley added that having doctor friends – and one of his sons working as a medic – helped keep him “in contact” with the latest health research.

But every bit as important is the simple act of cultivating friendships – something men in particular find harder around retirement age, he said.

“There’s a lot of research showing the benefits of giving your time... getting together with friends, that sort of thing,” he said.

As his family, colleagues and those whose lifestyles he has influenced for the better mourn Dr Mosley’s loss, they can take comfort from how his legacy of hope and positivity will live on.