Last words have the power to be super impactful but we can’t always be there to witness them. Some talk about love, others about regrets, but they’re almost always poignant. Hospitals are places of miracles, but often, the nurses also witness last words and last moments.
Some nurses shared the last words they’ve heard in the hospital, and some of these are going to make you cry.
1. She got into college
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“Some guy and his girlfriend got into a fight in the parking lot. It ended with the guy running her over, then backing up over her. Needless to say, she wasn’t doing well, and her vitals were tanking. She kept mumbling ‘Tell my mom. Please tell my mom,’ and naturally, I figured it was her asking us to let her mom know she was hurt. The hospital takes care of that and I put it out of my mind rather quickly as we were working over her. She flatlined before we arrived at the hospital.
My partner was finishing up her paperwork and we turned to give her wallet back to the staff. The nurse on duty, who I knew pretty well, was reading a dirty piece of paper. She looked disgusted. When I asked what was up she simply put the piece of paperwork down.
It was a letter that was picked up near her purse on scene. She had gotten accepted into a college. I realized then that in the ambulance, she was asking us to tell her mom she got into college.”
2. He was a killer
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“So this happened a couple of years ago. We had an ex-gang member who was dying of cancer and he confessed that he was the gang hitman for many years. He wanted to confess to all the killings and show the police where the bodies were buried.
He would get closure knowing that the surviving families of his victims find out where they are buried. We had to get the hospital legal team involved cause we had no policies to deal with that. Cops got involved and the dude confessed to gang murders from decades ago.”
3. He loved his wife
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“I had a patient whose memory had been fading for years. It’s weird, right before a patient dies, sometimes they’ll suddenly be doing a lot better. Anyway, he thought I was his late wife. I played along and just listened to him while he recalled his engagement, his wedding, his first childbirth, and a few other memories for me.
At one point, he says, ‘Oh! Irene, there you are! Sorry, you know my eyes aren’t as good as they used to be. Well, thank you for listening to an old man tell his stories. I hope you have great stories to tell one day too. I’m coming, Irene.’ And then he passed.”
4. She was courageous till the end
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“I had to tell my grandmother that dialysis would only give her another week or so to live and it was her choice to try or not. She was in and out of consciousness at that point and was in a clear state for the moment.
She asked, ‘Will I die?’ I said, ‘Yes.’ She looked me in the eye and smiled just a little and said, ‘Sometimes you gotta do what you don’t want to do.’ She closed her eyes, squeezed my hand and slept until she passed a day later.”
5. He wanted to go home
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“My grandfather was put into a 24/7 care home with severe Parkinson’s. My mom and grandma had spent four years basically taking care of him constantly and needed a break for a couple weeks (although visiting him every other day in shifts).
I went one day alone and he looked me straight in the eye and said, ‘I need you to get me home so I can die, I can’t do it here.’ I tried saying everything I could to the nurses and my family to get him home without saying what he told me.
24 hours later, he was rushed into emergency. As he was dying, he looked at me and said, ‘Don’t let it bother you’ and died. It still bothers me.”
6. She was asked to dance
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“My grandmother was on her deathbed, and we were all standing around her. She was often in and out, but one moment I remember clearly was her taking my mother’s hand and telling her that my grandfather (who had passed away a few years earlier) was calling her. She told all of us that she had to go now because ‘he’s asked me for a dance.’ She smile and passed away.”
It’s very hard to see your loved ones pass away, but knowing what is on their mind just before they leave the world can help ease the grieving process. It can be like a last goodbye, and needless to say, farewells are important.
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