Doctors reveal most gut wrenching things patients say before they die

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Doctors have revealed the most chilling words dying patients have said in their final moments — including the heart-wrenching plea, 'don't let me die'.

Medics have also been haunted by the terminally ill who, on their deathbed, 'swear' that there are 'angels' in the room, as well as final, innocent thoughts from young gunshot victims.

One dying man called out for a mysterious person named 'Russell' — which years after his death was revealed to be a childhood pet.

The collection of anecotes have been revealed on a Reddit thread entitled 'doctors, what's the scariest thing a patient has ever done/said?' that's so far garnered 3,600 comments.

One particularly heartbreaking report involved a female patient with lung disease who was moments from being made unconscious, in order to attach her to a ventilation machine.

She looked the doctor 'dead in the eye' as the anaesthetic was delivered, the medic wrote.

'She had the saddest look in her eyes and said “don’t let me die”. She passed away that night in the operating room. I still see it in my thoughts from time to time.'

Another doctor detailed the case of a 16-year-old boy with a gunshot wound that had torn a hole in his aorta — the largest and most critical artery that carries blood away from the heart to the rest of the body.

Shortly before he died of his injuries, he looked up at the doctor on duty and said: 'My stomach hurts'.

'He didn’t make it,' the doctor wrote. 'Such innocent last words to hear a kid say.

'He fully didn’t grasp his fate at the time. And understandably so. I will never forget it.'

Another doctor chillingly told how they are 'still haunted' by one male patient who said: 'I can see death standing behind you.' The man passed away two days later.

One nurse, meanwhile, described how they had 'many dying patients say they see family members or “angels” in the room'.

They told the Reddit thread: 'The patients in those instances never seem scared —  more like comforted.

'I actually encourage them to focus on those family members that they see if it brings them comfort. They usually pass shortly afterwards.'

Other medics tell of patients whose final remarks convince them that they are 'at peace' with dying.

' A patient once looked at me with a completely calm face and said, "I know you’re trying to help me, but I’m going to die today",' wrote one doctor.

'"I’ve made peace with it, and you can’t stop it."'

Among the most chilling tale is a story from a non-medic who lost his uncle to ultra-deadly pancreatic cancer .

On the day he died, the family were 'gathered around his bed' as his breathing got very shallow and slowed down.

'After a few minutes we thought he had died,' he wrote.

' About 10 minutes passed and people started to leave when suddenly, in a strong clear voice he said, ”Russell, wait for me”, then he was gone.

'Years later his kids found a very old photograph of him when he was maybe five years old.

'He was in a sandbox with a small dog, on the back of the picture in faded ink it read Russell, 1944’.

'The thought that our pets that have gone before us meet us to help us cross over fills me with comfort.'

It comes as one hospice nurse last year revealed people often call out for their parents who had passed away years earlier, or a even a former lover they had not seen in years, in the moments before they pass away.

Julie McFadden, from Los Angeles in California , said she has also heard the patients peacefully tell those around them 'I love you.'

The 41-year-old has worked in intensive care and hospices for over 15 years, caring for terminally-ill patients in the months leading up to their death.

Now, she shares videos on social media on what she says she has learnt about death and dying, in the hopes of destigmatising it.

She told this website: 'A lot of people think it's like the movies — a dramatic, last proclamation of something they've always regretted or something they always wanted everyone to know. It's not really like that.'

'Most people aren't speaking their last breath, but if they are, or close to it, it's usually "I love you". It's usually, "It's okay", like they're comforting somebody else, or things like "I'm ready".'

'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.

'If they do say something close to death, it's usually brief and short and quiet. It's hard to actually talk.'

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