These last words can be heartbreaking, life-affirming, spiritual, befuddling even hilarious but they’re always fascinating.
We got to know each other quite well.
I was in for an alcohol detox.
It was frightening to watch, and I could see he was terrified.
“He was then rushed to the ICU, where he passed 10 minutes later.
It still haunts me to this day and still brings me to tears recounting it.
I’m now 35, sober, in treatment, and I will never forget that moment.
It taught me a lot such a waste of life.”
Tom Evans, Quora
2.
“I had a patient scream, ‘I will not get vaccinated!!’
right before we had to intubate him for COVID-19.
No one was trying to vaccinate him.
He was already in critical condition from COVID-19.
He stayed intubated until he passed away.
His family asked if he said anything before his emergent intubation.
Jordan B, Quora
3.
He was in a stupor, and I knew the end was near.
I love you.'
He died six hours later.”
Deborah Barber, Quora
4.
“As a nurse, I have seen many patients pass away and heard lots of last words.
Sometimes, a patient will just pass in silence while others will say something.
“I had a patient called Maggie, an older lady in her 80s.
Just before she passed away, her face lit up, and she said, ‘Hello, Henry.’
She was so happy, and then she passed.
Henry was her husband, who had passed away 10 years before.
Another patient, Tom, was 50 years old and passed away terrified.
His last words were, ‘No, kindly don’t let me die.’
That shook me up and stayed with me since.
And then there was a young female.
She had cancer and was only 23.
Just before she passed, she looked up, smiled, and said.
It’s beautiful.'”
Victoria Young, Quora
6.
As far as we know, there were no ‘unsolved’ deaths or murders in her circle.
Maybe someone got away with something, or it was not known.
It was a mystery!”
Bill Coffey, Quora
7.
Unfortunately, the wife passed away, so of course, the husband was absolutely devastated.
I’ve been there for my wife and now have nothing!'"
He said, ‘I feel I wouldn’t be there when you get back.’
It was almost as if he couldn’t live with a broken heart.
He had given up on his own life after knowing his wife had passed peacefully and without pain.
He had been with and taken care of her until the end.
It makes me realize that true love does exist."
Jessica Hewer, Quora
8.
“My mother passed at age 53; I was 27 at the time.
She had cancer and was under hospice care at home.
I visited her the day before she passed.
The last thing she said to me was, ‘You poor thing, you poor thing.'”
Cheryl Fulton, Quora
9.
“My mother married my stepfather when I was a teenager.
A decade or so into their marriage, his health declined.
He had developed leukemia-induced anemia complicated by Crohn’s disease.
He decided he’d had enough.
He refused treatment so that he could pass away and be relieved of his pain.
He went in and out of consciousness over those last two days.
A priest came to read him his last rites.”
“At one point, I stood alone beside his bed, and he mustered enough strength to speak.
He told me, ‘Take care of your body and read a lot of books on different subjects.’
He added, ‘And take care of your mother.’
He then slipped back into unconsciousness.
I never heard him speak again.
My mother looked down at him and said, ‘What an amazing man.
Thank you for 17 wonderful years of marriage.’
Greg Livorsi, Quora
10.
“A friend’s mother was in the final stages of life.
Her family was around her, singing her favorite hymns.
As they fell silent, she suddenly opened her eyes very wide, gasped, and whispered, ‘LOOK!
Oh, WOW!’
And then she closed her eyes and died.”
Susan Zipf, Quora
11.
“My 93-year-old father, who was in hospice care with heart failure, was having a heart attack.
“With those words, he went to sleep and never woke up again, passing away that night.
He was the most loving, selfless person I’ve ever known.
See you again someday, Dad!”
Jim Hainline, Quora
12.
It would not still haunt me if I hadn’t replied, ‘I won’t.'”
Rob Man, Quora
13.
We will call him Vladimir.
He was 101 years old and in a diabetic coma.
Per his medical history, he had been a professional dancer in his youth.
Vladimir had outlived his entire family, including his only grandson.
He never had visitors while in my unit at the hospital.”
“I used to sit at his bedside to work on chart notes just to keep him company.
Sometimes Id read the newspaper to him or tell him jokes.
I was definitely leaning toward NOT.
I was startled to the point of stuttering: ‘Uhhhh… ‘Then you must get me…THE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM!’
‘Wait here,’ I said idiotically and ran to the nurses station.
‘Yes, I can,’ I replied, ‘Because his condition is terminal.
It may be the last time he gets to taste ice cream before he dies.
What kind of sense does that make?’
Then he sighed, closed his eyes…and died.”
Sabrina Walkosz, Quora
14.
“We had a patient in the ICU who’d come in for some cardiac issues.
She needed a cleanup and was in congestive heart failure.
I was still in nursing school and working as a nurse tech.
The team called me for the cleanup and to place her IVs as I needed the practice.
Once that was completed, we needed to place a Foley catheter.
I explained the procedure, cleaned the area, and began the insertion.
She sat up and loudly stated, ‘I can taste my teeth.’
Strange last statement.”
The chances of her surviving were pretty slim, which she knew.
“One day, things looked particularly bad.
I had come into her room to examine her, but she told me I didn’t have to.
She made one of her dirty jokes, which I have unfortunately forgotten.
She was talking in complete sentences and refused any morphine.
I remember trying to hold back tears because I somehow knew, as did she.
Less than a minute later, she passed away.
She was indeedOK.”
Konstantinos Gatos, Quora
(Some entries have been edited for length and/or clarity.)
