Hospice nurse reveals the common symptoms of ‘death bed phenomena’ before someone passes away

Hospice nurse Julie has shared the symptoms of 'death bed phenomena', using real-life video examples.

The end-of-life health expert has touched on a number of subjects when it comes to someone's final days, in an effort to change people's fears and perspectives on death, aiming to remove the stigma around the subject.

In the past, she's mentioned some of the things people may go through in their final days, and what the most common final words of people seem to be, but this is a rare time when she has backed her points up with video evidence.

The bestselling author and social media personality has showed us three common symptoms of phenomena that happens as you're about to pass on in a new video which has currently got over 774,000 views on TikTok.

At the start of the video, she explains: "This is something we see a lot at the bedside. We're not sure why, but it does happen often."

She then reveals that the family of a woman who is currently in her final days have shared videos of her experiencing deathbed phenomena, with permission to share it with her followers.

Burst of excitement

Nurse Julie explains: "You can see their loved one see someone who they don't see and who isn't there, and look excited and wave."

In the clip, you can see it happen very quickly and suddenly, as she seemed to see someone, waking up from her sleep to wave suddenly, before shutting her eyes again.

The expert reiterated: "Who knows what it could be and why it happens.

All we know is that it does a lot, and it's comforting to the patient and their families."

The 'death reach'

Mentioned before by many hospice specialists, she highlights: "It's when someone is looking out past everybody else, usually in a corner,

"They're doing the death stare and then they reach out, and sometimes talk to somebody, sometimes they just reach and hold their arms out for a long period of time."

Once again, while we don't know who they see or why they reach out, in her experience, it seems to happen a lot.

In the video example, the old woman can be seen staring off with her arm fully extended out, as if she's trying to reach out to something or someone.

"Her loved one says, who is it? She tries to tell her, but you can tell that she can't quite get it out," Nurse Julie explained.

However, she also explained that if this were to keep going, and if the woman was trying to grab and seem agitated, then it could be something more concerning.

"If this were to continue to happen and she seemed agitated, then I might think, as a hospice nurse, to possibly medicate for terminal agitation," though she added that there is a 'fine line' between this and the 'death reach'.

Acceptance

The final example in the video is described as 'beautiful' by the hospice nurse, as she urges her followers to 'keep an open mind' if they are religious or not.

Explaining that she doesn't want to push any kind of belief of anyone, she thinks it is 'fascinating' to see videos like this, which bring people comfort.

The woman behind the camera says, while holding her mother's head: "I love you, mama. I love you. Are you ready to go to heaven, Mama?"

"Yes," she simply replied.

Nurse Julie added: "That's the most beautiful interaction between a daughter and her mother, she answers yes, and then takes one of her last breaths."

Once again expressing her gratitude to the family for sharing the 'beautiful' moment with her, she signs off, saying: "It's just so moving. And I hope it helps you.

"I hope you can learn a lot.

"And I hope this makes you feel a little less afraid."