Dr. Michael Mosley was overcome with emotion in a video clip featuring him caring for premature babies, as he was gripped by “the fragility of life”. Talking in a new BBC show, The Doctor Who Changed Britain, recapped his most memorable moments as a TV medic, where he revealed his eldest son, Alex, had been born prematurely.
Looking at a 23-week-old newborn called Harrison, in his programme called Countdown To Life, he admitted that the sight of the tiny, defenceless baby “took him back” to his own memories. “You just feel so much emotion looking at a baby that is this small and this young and this vulnerable,” he exclaimed sadly.
“He really shouldn’t be here. He should be inside his mum.” He then narrated: “Often born without fingernails and with an eyelid sealed shut, these premature babies are fighting for their lives.”
Michael added with concern that “vital changes” which should have taken place inside the womb had not yet happened for Harrison, and that he feared for his future as he opened up about his own experience of welcoming a premature baby with his wife Dr Clare Bailey. “We were worried about [my son Alex], but he was early, but not as early as this boy,” he mused.
“I’m not sure what he can see or how much sense he can make of the world, because the neurons in his brain are not fully formed and senses are not fully developed.”
Michael, who shares four children with his wife, said his eldest son was fortunate enough to reach full health. But it was the first time he’d seen such a small boy, who ought to have had months more growing time in utero.
The BBC show’s narrator explained: “As much as Michael relished life, he never forgot about its fragility.”
That was a phrase echoed by TV producer Professor Alice Roberts on Twitter last week when she spoke on his death.
“The fragility of life is so shocking,” she mused, before adding: “I’ve known Michael Mosley for many years – as a tv producer specialising in science and medicine. He was the executive producer of my 2009 series Human Journey.
“When he started presenting as well as producing, we made several science programmes together. And we met up at Hay Festival just 2 weeks ago. I can’t believe he’s gone.”
Michael made some sacrifices in pursuit of medical breakthroughs over the years, and even consumed his own blood at the dinner table.
Also, while many would have been terrified at the prospect of ingesting tapeworms, Michael merely said he was “mildly apprehensive”.
Later, a camera was inserted into his stomach to chart the growth and development of the worms as he turned his own body into a “living laboratory”.
Dr Michael Mosley died earlier this month aged just 67, after suffering heat exhaustion on a trip to the Greek island of Symi, and The One Show star was mourned by all who’d known and loved him.
Michael Mosley – The Doctor Who Changed Britain airs tonight on BBC One and iPlayer at 8pm