Dealing with death can be immensely difficult, especially if those we lose are close beloved relatives or friends. And one thing that most people remember are the final words that the departed said to those close to them before they passed. It is important to make sure that you won’t be left regretting not saying something, as there are no second chances.
For healthcare professionals, death is something that they can have to deal with on a daily basis, and this can leave them with a lot of tragic memories and mental strains. However, one person took to Reddit to find out some of the most unsettling and creepy things that people had said before dying by asking, “Doctors & Nurses of Reddit, what was the creepiest last words you heard from a patient right before they died?”
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Below are some of the most eerie stories that people had to share!
Begging For Death
“DNR patient was on comfort cares. Was on a high dose of morphine and hallucinating. She would alternate between grasping for things not there and trying to climb out of bed. She was too unsteady to walk so my job was to sit in the room and make sure she was safe. She tried to get up and I went to ask her what she needed. She grabbed my arm and pulled me down towards her face and said, very angrily, ‘kill me’. That one messed with me for a while.” — KaliAsari
Watching people suffering towards the end of their life can be unbearable, and it’s unbelievable how some health care professionals can do it on a daily basis.
Hospice Care
“‘But I don’t know how to get there…’ Grandpa in hospice. Hadn’t spoken in days. Died about 2 hours later.” — Hellofriendinternet
Hopefully, he managed to find peace, in the company of her family.
Getting Away With Murder
“Not a doctor but I overheard an old lady whisper this to her old husband dying of kidney problems: ‘You are going to beat this, you got away with murder, this is nothing'” — babybopp
I’m guessing that this means he just did some risky stuff, not that he actually killed a person!
Go Out Cursing!
“Cardiac ICU: Had a gentleman who was DNR on comfort care. He was demented and was cursing like a sailor. He seemed to have moments of clarity and would ask to see his brothers (who were both passed).
After a particularly worrisome heart rhythm, he went back into a Sinus tachycardia and look me in my eyes and said ‘Hey, whats your name?’
‘Kabc’
‘What do you do here?’
‘I’m a nurse.’ After this, he was quiet for some time… then he said…
‘F**k you.’
And then he died about 20 minutes later.” — Kabc
Acceptance Of Death
“I’m an RT and had a vented trach patient in angio having a [pulmonary artery rupture]. Vent waveforms got a little funky showing she needed suctioned. I walked up to her and saw bright red blood just start shooting up the vent circuit and immediately obstruct it.
“I immediately said ‘she’s hemorrhaging’ and the vascular surgeon said ‘no it’s just a little blood’ thinking I was referring to his access site in her groin. I popped her off of the vent and blood just started pouring out of her trach, mouth, and nose. She looked at me and said ‘just let me die.’
“The puddle of blood was about 6 feet in diameter on the floor within just a couple of minutes and I was covered from the chest down. I’ve seen some s**t, but that was the worst” — OscarHM09
Reading these, it’s hard to put yourself in the position of a person enduring such suffering that they would rather die than be saved.
Words Of Kindness
“I’m a nurse and was previously working at an assisted living community on the dementia/Alzheimer’s unit. My very favorite patient had been declining pretty steadily so I was checking on him very frequently. We would have long chats and joke around with each other, but in the last two weeks of his life, he stopped talking completely and didn’t really acknowledge conversation directed at him at all.
“I finished my medication rounds for the evening and went to see him before I left. I told him I was leaving for the night and that I’d see him the following day, and he looked me in the eyes and smiled SO genuinely and said, ‘You look like an angel.’ I thought it was so sweet because he had not seemed lucid in weeks.” — abbztract
The Cliffhanger
“‘You’re not gonna believe this…’
“Talk about a cliffhanger. Can’t wait for season 2 of Old Man With Heart Failure.” — Powerism
As embarrassed as I am at how funny I found this one, I do really want to do know what he said! Also, I’ve found what I want put on my gravestone.
Haunting Visions
“I found one of my ‘comfort measures only’ patients standing at the side of his bed. It surprised me because he had been mostly unresponsive during my shift. I helped him back into bed and he asked me why all these people were in his room.
“He suddenly became quiet again and I noticed he wasn’t breathing. He was a DNR so there wasn’t anything to do to try to bring him back. Looking back he may have been talking about me and the CNA that was helping me get him back into bed, but who knows what or who he was seeing the last minutes of his life. Still creeps me out a little when I think about it.” — MoeGentry
A lot of people actually had stories to share about their dying loved ones claiming to see people in the room as they slipped away.
“I Think I’m Dying”
“Back when I was a CNA this one resident fell off a bike for exercise in pt and seized, they came to and became lucid and said I think I’m dying but everyone in the room assured her that wasn’t going to happen, she seized up and was dead within minutes.” — Schizzles
A lot of doctors in the thread commented that this sounds like an epidural hematoma from the patient hitting her head.
“I Love You”
“My dad fell into unconsciousness around noon. We managed to get him into bed and he responded with a hand squeeze when I said ‘I love you.’ We watched and waited for the rest of the day. Around 3:00 am his breathing changed and as his breathing becomes more and more labored he bolted upright, eyes wide open, looked at his wife, my sister, them me. Smiled, exhaled, and died.” — vito1221
At the end of our lives, I suppose all we can really hope for is to be surrounded by loved ones.
Singing
“Checked in on a patient before the end of my shift and she was in good spirits, had been joking with me the whole time. Her condition was tenuous (new trach) but she had been positive throughout. I asked how she was doing and she replied by singing ‘The old gray mare ain’t what she used to be’ and wished me a good night.
“I came in the next morning and she had coded and died overnight.” — TheMarkHasBeenMade
“Coded” means that the patient had an emergency health event requiring immediate treatment to sustain life. This can include the likes of needing CPR, intubation, etc.
Predicting Their Own Death
“Came into an early shift and was handed over a patient who’d been very anxious and had a panic attack overnight. He was anxious all morning but obs all fine, ECG fine and so I just asked someone to sit with him to keep an eye on him/reassure him for me. He gets worse, really panicky, heavy breathing, he’s on his side in the fetal position. Drs will be in 10 minutes so I tell him I’ll get them to him as soon as they come in but ask if he’ll lie on his back for me to help his breathing […] and that’s when he says ‘I won’t make it until the Drs get here. If I turn to face the other way I’ll die’. He repeated this a few times to me.
“He arrested literally as the Drs walked in and he died on the side he’d been refusing to turn to. I’m convinced he knew.” — PaperRainbow
There are many stories of people seemingly predicting their own deaths. Who knows what the explanation for this is, there are clearly a multitude of unknown factors occurring at once — but, either way, it is very unsettling!
Waiting For Someone Specific To Take Them Away
“Not a doctor or nurse, but my grandfather was on hospice care at home and for 2 days he told us that he had to go with ‘the little red-haired girl.’ We didn’t know what he was talking about.
“When he died, we cleaned him up and called the hospice nurse on duty, who came right over. I happened to be the one to answer the door and there she stood: 5 foot 2 or so, with gorgeous blue eyes and the most beautiful red hair you’ve ever seen. I couldn’t even manage ‘hello’, but my grandmother looked around me and said very cheerfully ‘Please come in, he’s been waiting for you.'” — crackassmuumuu
I think being told, “Please come in, he’s been waiting for you” without context as a nurse could be just as unsettling for the nurse as the family.
Staring Into The Soul Of Those Around Them
“I had this patient who had a stroke. After that, he recovered fine but did get pneumonia like 4 weeks into his recovery. The last words he said to me was at like 4 in the morning. ‘You took his girl and you will burn in hell for it.’ I actually took a girlfriend from a friend of mine. Somehow he knew.” — Mclovinisawesome
Could have just been a really specific guess he made to try and creep you out on the off-chance it was true! What a way to go out!
Talking To The Man In Black
“The last one is definitely the creepiest. A nice old lady who told my CNA she wanted to wear all white. When asked why, she said ‘the man in black is here.’ She looked in the corner of the room. The CNA looked, but there was no one there. That’s when I came into the room. We asked her to describe what she was seeing and she said ‘he’s in all black, and he’s got a top hat on.’
“Then she whispered ‘and his eyes are red’ while her eyes moved across the room to directly behind the CNA like she was watching him move closer to us. She died later that night. But it was unexpected. That room creeped me out for a long time after that.”
Again, she could have been doing it to mess with you! Although I hope it’s true because the afterlife would be much more interesting with a guy with an apparent flair for the dramatic to talk to!
Reliving The War
“Last year: my grandfather started desperately pleading for his life with his German captors from WWII
“The doctor present was smart and said in German: ‘You are free, Herr Caricature. You are free.’ And then he died.” — Caricature
That’s a touching piece of improvisation that the doctor did. Must have really helped to put the man at peace.
Terrified Screaming
“My first code as a nurse was of a middle aged mother who we think ended up having a brain bleed […] She was ripping her gown off, and the sheets off the bed, and she’d yanked her heart monitor off. I was trying to start a blood transfusion, but needed to get her vitals beforehand, which was impossible because she wouldn’t stay still long enough for any of it to read. I’d given her a sedative and I was praying it would kick in soon.
“She kept grabbing my arm saying ‘Come here. Look at me! Help me!’ with fear in her eyes that I will never forget. I’m pretty sure I snapped back, ‘I’m trying!’ which I of course wish was something comforting instead. Then she leaned back, her eyes got droopy, she shut her mouth, then snapped her eyes wide open but totally glossed over.” — fallingstar24
Just A Feeling
” He said ‘Here we go’ and then his heart stopped.” -Katie325
Goodnight
“My grandpa was told that he would die in his sleep that night. When he woke up at 6:00 A.M. he said: ‘Wow I’m still here!’ And then fell back asleep and passed away.” -awais66
Smile
” He looked right at me when I asked him if he knew who I was and he said ‘sorry son of a b***h’ while smiling at me. Still makes me laugh to this day.” -sirisaacneuton
“What Happens Just Happens”
“‘What happens, just happens,’ An elective mitral valve procedure…we ended up not being able to get him off bypass, and he died on the table (operating room).” -my_kingdom_for_a_nap
Apologies
“He fought with his wife before we took him back to the operating room (open-heart procedure). I said, ‘this is hugs and kisses time, we’re taking him back now,’ She responded: ‘When he apologizes, I’ll talk to him again.’ He died on the table several hours later.” -ZombiAcademy
Missing Eyes
“My grandfather on his deathbed said “they have no eyes”, still give me chills.”
I think that is enough to give anyone chills! It sounds like something out of a Neil Gaiman novel!
Regret
“Paramedic: 17 y/o female, car crash: ‘Please, please, please…don’t tell my parents I was drinking’.” — MedicPigBabySaver
How tragic, not only to die in such a manner but to die in fear and embarrassment of your actions that lead you there.
Sudden Death
“I work in a cardiac ICU. We had a patient who had a pulmonary artery rupture (a rare, but known complication of a Swan-Ganz catheter). One minute he was joking around with us and the next bright red blood was spewing out of his mouth. His last words before he died were ‘why is this happening to me?’ It still haunts me years later.” — Awk_Ward1
The ones that describe someone as being scared of death are the ones that are the most unsettling for me. We like to hope that death will be a relaxing and gentle experience; but, the reality is that most of us are scared of what awaits us at the end of the line.
What a cheerful way to end this list!
