A hospice nurse has revealed what one patient told her about the afterlife just before she died – the patient said ‘it’s beautiful’, adding that she ‘can’t wait’ to get there
A hospice nurse has revealed the two-word summary one of her patients gave her to sum up the afterlife.
Nurse Hadley Vlahos recounted her experiences of treating people who are near the end of their lives on the End Well YouTube channel.
She revealed that one of her patients told her what the afterlife was like and “couldn’t wait to get there”. The patient reportedly said: “It’s beautiful, you know. And I said: ‘What is?’ And she said: “The afterlife. I can’t wait.”
Hadley also recounted the first time she heard a dying patient talking to a dead loved one.
She explains that while she was initially skeptical, many patients who are receiving end of life care have talked to deceased loved ones before passing away themselves.
Hadley told the story of how one patient asked ‘were you the butterflies’, something that reminded her of her deceased teenage son years beforehand.
The nurse said: “I heard my patient ask this question out of the blue – were you the butterflies? My eyes immediately jumped from my tablet to the patient, then to the doorway to see if someone else had walked into the room.
“I leaned forward and touched her arm and said: ‘Sorry?’
“And she said: ‘I was asking my son if he was the butterflies. As I stepped out into the corridor to talk to her husband his eyes filled with tears as he talked about their son dying in high school and how afterward my patient saw butterflies everywhere.”
The hospice nurse said her experiences with patients receiving end of life care has made her reassess her atheism.
“As I moved on in my hospice journey this patient was not the only one who was seeing deceased loved ones. I had Miss Sue who’s husband came to get her at the end and her death anxiety was wiped away.
“And Miss Edith who had severe dementia and was able to seemingly communicate with me at the end of life and predict what would happen in the future.
“I had just one question – what the heck was going on. This did not jive with my atheism.”
