Nurses Reveal 7 Chilling Things Patients Said On Their Deathbeds
Some of these are going to haunt us for a while.
Cryptographer / Shutterstock Death is something we all think and worry about sometimes; that’s only natural.
Recently, those kinds of thoughts drove a Reddit user’s curiosity that started an interesting discussion online when they asked nurses of Reddit a simple question: “Nurses of Reddit, what where the most haunting things someone said on their deathbed?”
And over 10,000 people responded, both medical workers as well as people with lost loved ones; although, not all of us might be ready for some of their answers…
Here are 7 chilling quotes said by patients on their deathbed.
1. “Am I supposed to stop breathing now?!”
One of the posts top comments said that, when their grandmother lay dying, there was a moment where her heart rate shot up and many alarms started going off.
Seemingly aware of the situation but unsure what to do, their grandmother shouted, “am I supposed to stop breathing now?!”
2. “My kids left me here to die.”
One of the most heartbreaking lines said on a deathbed was recalled by a nursing home worker, who was struck when a patient said, “My kids left me here to die. May that never happen to you, son.”
As sad as it is, it is a good one to keep in mind, in case you needed a morbid reminder to give your parents or grandparents a call.
3. "My dad is on his way to pick me up now."
A former CNA at an assisted living facility relayed one of the last words of a patient with dementia.
Toward the end, the CNA said, the patient’s dementia had the patient believing that her father was coming to pick her up.
The CAN said that she spent most of her day tidying her room or simply sitting on her bed, waiting for her father to arrive.
Who is to say; perhaps it was her own way of letting go and preparing herself to move on.
4. “I think I’m going to die now.”
While it’s somewhat terrifying to think that we might see the moment of our death happening before it reaches us, this Reddit user explains that this is exactly what happened to their grandmother.
According to them, even though she had been improving before this moment, suddenly their grandmother grasped the nurse’s hand and told her “I think I’m going to die now.”
While the nurse tried to reassure her that it she would probably be fine and was getting better, their grandmother died, seemingly instantaneously, just as she had known she would.
5. “What do you think I’ve been trying to do?”
This one requires a bit more context to understand what was going on, but lots of Reddit users voiced their respect for this woman’s near-last words.
The user who posted it is an ER doctor who had been taking care of an old lady suffering from a severe heart attack and refusing treatment.
So, instead of treatment, they offered comfort and stayed beside her along with her family, allowing her final hours to come as they would.
Toward the end, the woman’s daughter said, “Just let go, mum.” To this, her mother opened her eyes for the last time and delivered one final bit of sass: “What do you think I’ve been trying to do?” Soon afterward, she was able to pass away.
6. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.”
This user, who worked in the ER, was trying to send a patient home who came in for something relatively mild.
However, when they got him out of bed, he immediately went out and had no heartbeat.
After a few rounds of CPR, the doctors were able to bring him back again, and he regained consciousness. One of the doctors tried to joke with the man and exclaimed, “Sir, you almost died on us!”
But the man seemed only sad and apologetic; he said, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to,” before the heartbeat went away again and, this time, would not come back.
7. “When is New Years? What day is it this year?”
This one, again, requires some context to realize how amazing the story actually is.
The Reddit user was once a young RN who was not unfamiliar with death in their workplace. One patient’s story, however, stuck with them.
He was a patient with advance dementia, who believed that he was at work at the hospital and that he was the superior to the medical staff. Then, one day at the end of December, he asked the RN “When is New Years? What day is it this year?”
The RN told him when it was, to which the patient nodded and told the RN that he would quit and retire after the new year. The nurse played along thanked him for all his hard work.
What they didn’t expect was that, come Jan. 1, he passed away peacefully in his sleep.
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Amanda Hartmann is a writer and editorial intern at YourTango who writes on news and entertainment.