Recently, we shared a post about Quora users recounting their experiences hearing someone’s final words. It clearly resonated with BuzzFeed readers, who sent in a whole bunch of their own stories.
Someone’s last words can be heartbreaking, spiritual, confusing — even funny — but they’re always fascinating. Here’s what they had to say:
1.
“My husband had a heart attack, and the last words he said to me were, ‘This sucks!’”
—Anonymous
2.
“An ICU patient I cared for yelled out, ‘I NEED TO TAKE A SHIT.’ My coworker replied, ‘It’s OK, you can shit.’ Not a second later he coded and died.”
—Anonymous
3.
“My wife of 35 years and I were resting after her eye appointment one November evening. She asked if I would make her a cheese quesadilla. I agreed. Just after finishing the quesadilla, I heard her say, ‘No, not again.’ She stopped breathing. I called 911 and started first aid until the paramedics arrived. A week later, after never waking up, she passed away.”
—Anonymous
4.
“My mom was actively passing and started staring at the wall. I asked her what she was staring at, and she said, ‘There is a long line at the register.’ That was the last thing she ever said.”
—Anonymous
5.
“My great uncle was in the hospital, dying from COPD. He opened his eyes, looked at my great aunt, and said, ‘You sure look pretty today.’ Then he closed his eyes and was gone.”
—Anonymous
6.
“My father was about 12 hours from dying, but I didn’t know that. I was feeding him his favorite, chocolate pudding. He hadn’t spoken for a couple of days, and he looked right at me and said, ‘I love pudding! And I love you, too.’”
—Anonymous
7.
“My father’s last words to me were, ‘I would have spent more time with my children, but there was so much work to do.’ I’ll never forget the look on his face when he said that.”
—Anonymous
8.
“My brother-in-law was dying in hospital on a morphine drip. He wasn’t speaking but suddenly opened his eyes and declared, ‘We’re on the way to Mandalay… Wheeeeeeeee!’ He then stopped breathing and passed away.”
—Anonymous
9.
“The Friday before my father passed he had the nurse call me from his hospital room. He told me that he loved me. He never said that to me in his 93 years. I knew then he was going.”
—Anonymous
10.
“My wife, who was in a coma after fighting mucosal melanoma cancer for six and a half years, told our daughter that she just wanted me to lay next to her one more time. I did as she asked for a few beautiful hours. She died the next day. God I miss her. Together for 37 years and married for 29 years. I’m now 75 and afraid of too many years left without the love of my life.”
—Anonymous
11.
“My uncle had been a jokester all his life. His very last words, said to the nurse trying to adjust his bed, were: ‘Careful, that’s my good side.’ He grinned and died a few minutes later.”
—Anonymous
12.
“My father served his country for 24 years in the United States Air Force. He always gave great advice about life. He told me once, ‘Once you become a parent, the job is for life until the day you die.’ My father was on his deathbed at the age of 86. Two days before he passed, my younger brother and I started to fuss about Dad’s condition in the ICU. I saw my father move his head. I looked him deep in the eyes, and he said to my brother and me without missing a beat, ‘Cut it out.’ I had to laugh, but in my laughter I started to cry because right then and there he reminded me that the job of a parent lasts a lifetime until death. Dad winked at me and said, ‘I’m ready to go home, son.’”
—Anonymous
13.
“My mother had congestive heart failure. She had a directive to physician, do not resuscitate. I was sitting with her talking about our two cats we had when I was growing up and a state park we went to on vacation many times. As we were talking, she became quiet and looked me straight in my eyes. Her last words to me were: ‘You are a good boy.’ She closed her eyes, never spoke again, and passed the next day. What a gift she left me!”
—Anonymous
14.
“My mother was actively dying, barely conscious, and heavily medicated for pain. She hadn’t spoken in days. Her little dog was asleep at the foot of the bed and suddenly woke up, looking intently across the room, and let out an odd low growl. Suddenly, my mom lifted her head, staring the same way as the dog. She spoke a language that seemed ancient, and as she reached out to those unseen by me, my mom very clearly said, ‘Wait for me, wait for me…wait for me.’ She lay back then, closed her eyes, and died that night.”
—Anonymous
15.
“My father’s last words were, ‘Fuck ’em, fuck ’em all.’”
—Anonymous
16.
“My 92-year-old mother said, ‘I have to go now.’ And then she was gone.”
—Anonymous
17.
“We learned that my mom had lung cancer when she was only 57. It metastasized to her lymph nodes, and then her bones. We were keeping her pumped full of morphine because the pain was so bad. On her last day, she woke up and said, ‘Help me, help me…’ Those were her final words. She didn’t see heaven, or her mom, or Jesus. She didn’t make a deathbed confession or say she loved us. She was a smoker. I’m not sayin’ don’t smoke, but, don’t smoke.”
—Anonymous
18.
“I talked to my dad on Sunday night and said I wouldn’t be making it over to the house tomorrow. Then he said to me, ‘I won’t be here tomorrow.’ And sure enough, he died Monday morning at 4 o’clock. I still feel bad for not listening to him. But that night in bed I woke up to what felt like someone holding my hand. It was my dad. He told me he was alright and not to worry. To this day I still can feel his hand in mine.”
—Anonymous
19.
“One day my mom told me a story about my grandmother who passed away. She said, ‘I will look over you kids.’ Then one day later she passed from a heart attack.”
—Anonymous
20.
“My dad was a World War II vet. On his deathbed, he suddenly shouted, ‘Sergeant, get my men out of here!’ And then he breathed his last.”
—Anonymous
21.
“My 86-year-old mother in the morning [said] she knew she was dying that day. As we were gathered around, she looked up at me and she said, ‘Tami, I’m going to hit you.’ And then she died. Hard to forget that.”
—Anonymous
22.
“My mom, who was 96, was in a nursing home and she had dementia. But before she died, she opened her eyes, looked up, and said she saw my dad in the room. She closed her eyes. I was holding her hands. I told her that I loved her and that her baby girl would be OK. She squeezed my hand and stopped breathing.”
—Anonymous
23.
“As my best friend’s wife was in her last hours, she suddenly sat up and looked directly at the hospice nurse. Her final words came when she said to the nurse, ‘YOU’RE FIRED!’ She laid back down and passed peacefully within the hour.”
—Anonymous
24.
“I was taking care of my cousin in her last days. On her last day she had been quiet. I would sit and talk to her but did not get responses. All of the sudden, she said, ‘Mom.’ I asked, ‘Do you see your mom?’ Her reply was, ‘Yes, and yours, too.’ I told her to go to them. She passed away peacefully within the hour.”
—Anonymous
25.
“My father was very agitated before he passed. His last words were, ‘Help me!’ as though he was suddenly in a great deal of pain, and then he dropped to his pillow and died. I never expected those words to be his last. It still bothers me to this day that we couldn’t help him because he had signed a DNR that I didn’t know about until a couple of weeks before he passed.”
—Anonymous
26.
“My father, the night before he went into a coma and died, said, ‘It feels so good to rest and relax.’”
—Anonymous
27.
“My mother was dying from lymphoma and leukemia. When she and I had some time alone, she turned to me and said, ‘I love you’ in the most beautiful and kind way. An hour later she went, ‘Whoa?! Did you see that? It was a streak of red light that went across the room, cool.’ (Mom was an old-school 1960s hippie.) Less than 12 hours later, she took her last breath, peacefully.”
—Anonymous
28.
“My mom was in ICU and had a DNR. She designated me to make any medical decisions per her instructions. Everyone got to the hospital and were all in the room when she came to and decided to tell us, ‘Marriage is… (long pause) unique and different.’ We all laughed because she had been married to our dad since 1934 and my dad passed in 2012. Then she closed her eyes and passed.”
—Anonymous
29.
“When my husband of 46 years was preparing for heart valve repair surgery, he said to our teen granddaughter, ‘When they come to get me, I want you to run behind the gurney, shouting, “Don’t take my PaPa!”‘ During surgery, someone cut a 10-centimeter hole in his aorta and he bled out. He became septic and died a few days later. He was never able to speak after surgery because of all the tubes. But he kissed me goodbye the day he passed. That spoke volumes.”
—Anonymous
30.
“At age 83, my mama had been struggling for a couple of months with congestive heart failure. Within hours of her passing, when she hadn’t had the strength or the breath to say much at all, she pulled me down to her so that her mouth was right near my ear, and she said these words, ‘Carry the love out.’”
—Anonymous
31.
“My uncle, before passing of cancer, said, ‘They’re all here, I can see them!’ He passed just a bit later.”
—Anonymous
32.
“My mother looked at me and said, ‘Will you stay here till I go?’ I said yes. She passed in less than a few minutes.”
—Anonymous
33.
“My mother called out my name. When I asked what she needed, she said, ‘Help me up, help me up.’ Assuming she wanted to be pulled up further in her bed, I said, ‘I’ll go get someone to help you scoot up,’ and she raised her hand and pointed up and said, ‘No, I want to go up, I want to go up.’ And her hand fell down and she passed within minutes.”
—Anonymous
34.
“As my sister lay dying of cancer, I was with her as the sun was coming up. She had thrown up her meds the night before so she was fully lucid when she sat up and asked who all the people in her room were. We were alone. I asked her if she could see someone, and she responded, ‘No, but I can sense them.’ Her eyes were wide with wonder. She then said, ‘Don’t be sad, we’re all going to be together soon.’”
—Anonymous
35.
“My late darling wife of 50 years was in hospice. I sat at her bedside and asked, ‘Looking back on our married life together, what, if anything, would you change?’ She gripped my hand and said, ‘Not a fucking thing.’”
—Anonymous
36.
“My mom said, ‘I know he is,’ after I told her God was with her. She then died.”
—Anonymous
37.
“My mom had been divorced from my dad for decades. As she was dying, she looked at him and said, ‘Oh, hi Bill. You look so good and I’ve missed you.’ Then she passed.”
—Anonymous
38.
“My mom woke up from what looked like a deep sleep and asked, ‘Am I dead yet?’ We told her no, and she replied, ‘Oh man,’ as though her travel was interrupted. She died that night.”
—Anonymous
39.
“The day before my mother died, she laid in bed with her eyes closed all day. Suddenly, she said very clearly, ‘Mama, wait. I have to change my clothes.’ In the middle of that night, she passed away.”
—Anonymous
40.
“My ex-father-in-law died in November 1998. His last words to me were, ‘You will have a son in August.’ And in August of 1999, I did have a son.”
—Anonymous
41.
“When my husband died of a massive heart attack at 46, the last time I saw him as they rushed me out of the room he looked at me, winked, and smiled. He was gone a few minutes later.”
—Anonymous
42.
“I always took pictures of my mom, who had Alzheimer’s, in the care facility. The last time I saw her, I happened to take a live photo. At the time she simply mumbled illegible words. She died a few weeks later. Listening back to the photo, you can clearly hear her say, ‘I will always love you.’”
—Anonymous
43.
“My 100-year-old grandmother, in a lucid moment near the end, told my cousin: ‘I am going to meet my grandson and his name is David.’ There was no David in our family, so it was confusing. Later that day, my daughter called after her OB appointment to tell us that our first grandchild was going to be a boy and they were going to call him David.”
—Anonymous
44.
“My dad told me, ‘I won’t be coming home again.’ When my mom asked why, he said, ‘Because I’m going to die tonight.’ He did.”
—Anonymous
45.
“My dad was very ill and weak. He was sitting in his chair, and I was sitting on the ottoman at his feet. He reached out and took my hand, looked me right in the eye, and said, ‘You’re the last one I can count on.’ Those were his final words to me.”
—Anonymous
46.
“My mom was in hospice, her breathing very labored, but suddenly she opened her eyes and said as clear as day, ‘I love you all.’ Then she closed her eyes and was gone.”
—Anonymous
47.
“I was visiting my grandma when she asked out of nowhere, ‘Where did all the women go?’ She stared into the corner of the room for a few moments and then was gone.”
—Anonymous
48.
“My grandfather was in hospice, in and out of consciousness. The night before he died, he opened his eyes, looked at my grandmother, and whispered, ‘Thank you for loving me.’ He closed his eyes and was gone by morning.”
—Anonymous
49.
“My grandmother had dementia and hadn’t spoken in weeks. Just before she died, she said, ‘Mama,’ and reached her arms up like a child.”
—Anonymous
50.
“When my dad was dying, he was surrounded by his kids and grandkids. Out of nowhere he said, ‘Look at all of you. This is the best thing I ever did.’ Those were his last words.”
—Anonymous
51.
“My mom was in hospice and I was holding her hand. She looked at me and said, ‘You’ll be fine. Don’t cry for me.’ She closed her eyes and never opened them again.”
—Anonymous
52.
“My father’s final words to me were, ‘I’m proud of you.’”
—Anonymous
53.
“As my mom’s breathing slowed, she whispered, ‘Tell everyone I love them.’ Those were the last words she ever said.”
—Anonymous
