Some common words that patients say just before they die have been revealed by end-of-life carers from all over the world. Often, when people are about to slip away, they have their family on their mind.
That's according to Julie McFadden, who is a hospice nurse, and commonly heard people referencing various family members in their final breaths. Contrary to what we see on TV and in films, she says people rarely have a dramatic monologue prepared for their parting message.
Instead, it's often a reflection on their lives and regrets - mainly those surrounding working too much, the Mirror reports. Another expert, physician Dr Mina Chang, says they will often say "I am ready" before passing away.
But Nurse McFadden says often people's main dying regret is dieting and wasting time worrying about their looks - and they often bring up family members or past lovers too. "A lot of people will say their parents' names - or they'll say 'mum' or 'dad', or the name of an ex-husband who is dead already," she told MailOnline. "If they do say something close to death, it's usually brief and short and quiet. It's hard to actually talk."
Dr Chang, from the San Francisco Bay Area, said the most common thing she hears from patients is that they have no regrets.
The medic explained: "They will sometimes say words like 'I am ready' or 'I have no regrets' - and we often support the relationships between patients and their loved ones so we might hear words such as "Thank you” "I love you,” Please forgive me,” or "Good-bye."'
Last year, a retired end-of-life doctor revealed what really happens when you die. Dr Kathryn Mannix, from Northumberland, specialises in palliative and end of life care and describes the transition to death as a "process" similar to birth.
She wants to help people break down the taboo around the subject and encourage people to talk about dying more. Apparently, the whole process is simplified when the dying person and their family is upfront about what's happening.
Speaking to a short film for BBC Ideas she said: “In my humble opinion, dying is probably not as bad as you’re expecting. We’ve lost the rich wisdom of normal human dying and it’s time for us to talk about dying and reclaim the wisdom.
“Dying, like giving birth, really is just a process. Gradually people become more tired, more weary. As time goes by people sleep more and they’re awake less.”
She has seen in her own patients how they can slip in and out consciousness as they get closer to the end and will often wake up and say they've had a "good sleep".
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