21-05-2025
Haunting movement that people make just before they die - and the fascinating reason behind it, nurse reveals
If your loved one on hospice suddenly appears to reach up to the sky or ceiling at the end of their life, you're not just imagining it.
For the 'unexplainable phenomenon' is 'really common' among people on the verge of death, experts have claimed.
Katie Duncan, from Gaithersburg in Maryland, said the upward movement will often catch relatives off guard but patients are in fact reaching towards dead relatives, friends or even a cherished pet.
While this can make it look like the dying person is in distress, she said it doesn't cause a patient to suffer.
The nurse practitioner and end-of-life coach has worked in intensive care, home hospices and community and rehab facilities, 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.
In the clip, seen more than five million times, she said: 'This is one of those unexplainable phenomenons. In my personal experience working with people who are dying, this reach towards someone or something above them is really common.
'Sometimes this is associated with what we call end of life visions or other end of life experiences.
'When someone vocalises seeing someone or something, often it's an angel, sometimes it's a bright light.
'Very commonly, they say it is a loved one or family member or pet, someone who has died before.
'The person who is dying is vocalising that they're seeing this person. But sometimes you see a person reach and they don't say anything at all.'
Clips of patients in their final moments have been widely shared on social media sites including TikTok and Instagram.
Responding to Ms Duncan's video, TikTok users spoke about their own experiences.
'My husband did this also he reached both arms out and said mom the biggest smile I ever seen him smile,' one wrote.
'My dad saw a little boy on a white horse the night before he passed,' another said.
In a separate Instagram reel seen over one million times, one woman also shared a video of her husband reaching up towards the ceiling as he drank water.
'I was so happy he was drinking I didn't even notice he was doing the before death reach to the sky,' she said.
It's unclear exactly what causes terminal lucidity.
However, one US study published in 2023 looking at brain activity during death suggested that dying brains are deprived of oxygen and may produce increased gamma wave activity.
Gamma waves are the fastest brain waves, which occur when patients are highly alert and actively processing sensory information.
Experts also believe the brain releases a flood of neurotransmitters like serotonin right before death, which could improve mood.
Ms Duncan also said: 'What should we be doing about this reach? Nothing. It's one of those mystical parts of the dying process that we are able to be a witness to.
'We also know that other end of life visions and experiences tend to bring the dying person a lot of peace and comfort.
'If you're a loved one who's witnessing this in your dying person, I hope that you can let it bring you comfort.'
