- Julie McFadden , 41, is a registered nurse based in Los Angeles
- She specializes in hospice care and frequently shares what happens near death
- The nurse has now revealed the six ‘unimaginable’ things that occur
A hospice nurse has revealed the six ‘unimaginable’ things that happen when someone is on their death bed.
Julie McFadden, 41, is a registered nurse based in Los Angeles who specializes in hospice care – and has built a social-media following of millions by sharing insights to help destigmatize the process of ‘death and dying.’
The health expert and author – who previously lifted the lid on the ‘scary things’ that happen when you take your last breath – took to YouTube to once again speak out about the phenomena surrounding death as she confessed that prior to having witnessed these wild things herself, she was ‘uncomfortable’ sharing them.
Julie explained that patients often experienced ‘terminal lucidity,’ ‘hallucinations,’ ‘death stares,’ and more.
At the beginning of the clip, she explained that she never saw any of these six things while working as an ICU nurse, and only began seeing them when she transitioned into hospice care.
She admitted: ‘There are many death bed phenomena and I’ve seen them all, let’s break them down. I want to be clear this doesn’t happen to everyone but it does happen enough that I like to educate about it.
‘As an ICU nurse, I will say I did not experience these things, then coming on to hospice and becoming a hospice nurse I was educated about it and was told to educate families about it, which originally I felt uncomfortable doing because I hadn’t witnessed it myself, and it’s really hard to believe that these things actually happen.
‘But slowly and surely as the years went on and I started seeing things more and more it became apparent that I definitely needed to educate people about it because it happens so often.’
Julie began by explaining the first wild thing that happened at the end of life was terminal lucidity.
She described this as a ‘burst of energy’ that a patient who was nearing death got, adding that it happened ‘very often.’
The nurse admitted that it was unclear why those who were about to die got that energy – adding that you should just ‘enjoy’ the short time with your loved one.
She continued: ‘Just enjoy it and expect that maybe they will die soon after because that’s the kicker with terminal lucidity, it looks like someone’s going to die very soon then suddenly they have a burst of energy.
‘They maybe have a really great day, they’re suddenly hungry, they’re suddenly able to walk, they’re suddenly very alert and oriented, and then shortly after usually a day or two they will die, so that can be the hard part if you’re not ready for it, if you don’t know what’s coming you can think they’re getting better and then they die, which can be very devastating.’
The second thing that you may see happen to your loved one who is on the brink of death is ‘visioning.’
Julie described this as having ‘hallucinations’ – adding that this phenomenon was ‘talked about the most.’
She noted that patients often saw people who had passed ‘weeks before their death.’
‘I wouldn’t have believed it unless I saw it for myself over and over again,’ the nurse admitted.
Julie advised that you ‘just go with it’ if you did see your loved one having a hallucination – before revealing that if someone was ‘visioning’, then they were ‘a month away from death.’
‘Number three, this is really crazy – people choosing when they’re going to die. I have seen some extreme cases of this, people just saying, “Tonight’s when I’m going to die I know it, I can feel it,” and they do. There’s also a time when people will wait for everybody to get into town or get into the room arrive at the house whatever it is and then they will die,’ the nurse explained.
The fourth thing is known as the ‘death reach,’ according to Julie.
She explained: ‘It’s when the person’s lying in bed and they reach up in the air like they’re seeing someone or they’re reaching for someone either to hug them or to shake their hands. A lot of times they’ll hold their hands up for a long time.
‘[It’s] like they’re seeing something that we’re not seeing and they’re reaching for someone that we can’t see.
Julie then listed ‘number five is the death stare,’ explaining that the death stare and the death reach often ‘go together.’
‘It usually looks like someone is staring off into the corner of the room or the side of the room basically looking at something intently, but if you’re snapping your finger in front of their face or trying to say their name to kind of snap them out of it, they won’t,’ she said.
The last wild thing the nurse has seen is known as a ‘shared death experience’ and is ‘most impactful,’ according to Julie.
She explained: ‘A shared death experience is when someone who is not dying feels or sees or understands what’s happening to the person who is dying.
‘It’s kind of like the dying person gives you the sensation of what they’re going through. There may have been some times where that’s not a good thing, but from my experience and all the stories I’ve heard it’s usually a good feeling.
‘From what I experienced, it was a very good feeling. It was like the person was giving me these feelings of freedom and joy and kind of telling me that they were okay and basically they couldn’t believe how amazing it was again.
‘At the time, I was shocked, I didn’t know what was happening, but I’ve come to find out that that’s called a shared death experience.’
This isn’t the first time Julie has opened up about death and what she witnessed when someone was dying.
Last year, she dove into ‘end-of-life visions’ and how eerily ‘logical’ the exchanges around them can be.
‘They’re usually functional and logical and questioning me, “Why am I seeing my dead mom, do you see her?”‘ she said.
Later this year, Julie is also set to release a book titled Nothing To Fear, billed as a ‘comforting and informative guide that demystifies our end-of-life journey.’
Emily Foster is a globe-trotting journalist based in the UK. Her articles offer readers a global perspective on international events, exploring complex geopolitical issues and providing a nuanced view of the world’s most pressing challenges.
