END of life care is an emotional time.
As loved ones slowly watch their family and friends slip away, it can be hard to know what’s normal.
tiktok/hospicenursejulieHospice nurse Julie McFadden helps to educate people on end of life care[/caption]
Hospice nurse Julie McFadden said the death stare is a common thing that happens to many people before they die.
Posting to TikTok she showed a real life example of what the death stare looks like, which had been sent to her by a follower in order to help educate people on hospice care and what happens at the end of life.
She cautioned followers with a ‘trigger warning’, but said the clip isn’t actually disturbing.
Scroll down to view the video.
“If anything it’s beautiful. It’s an elderly woman lying in bed staring intently up at the ceiling with somewhat of a smile on her face and her having a full on conversation with someone.”
Nurse Julie added that it was a ‘perfect example’ of the death stare and when someone is talking to the unseen.
“The family said that prior to this video, this woman had not been speaking and had not been awake and was basically unconscious for a few days.
“Then suddenly perked up, was staring at the ceiling and having this conversation, then she died peacefully the next day,” she said.
The 39-year-old added that we don’t know why these things happen at the end of life, but said that they do happen ‘so often’.
The expert previously said that the death stare was a key sign that your loved one was about to die.
The term, which she coined herself, refers to when a “loved ones seemingly stares beyond you, or stares into the corner of the room or up to the ceiling”.
“Sometimes they talk and say they see something but other times they will just stare,” she explained.
The expert went on to say that she has also seen animals experience this phenomenon.
“Animals sometimes appear to see what their caregiving who is dying see
“They sometimes take on their owners symptoms, protect their owners, lay on their bed, lay underneath their bed.
Previously, the hospice nurse suggested a way of looking at death that could bring peace to many.
She said reactions vary from person to person but many often experience “visioning”.
This is when dying people, who are often fully lucid, see deceased friends, family and even pets.
Once this happens, people are “no longer scared”, she explained.