Emily Brown
A hospice nurse who's seen 'hundreds' of people die has revealed that there's typically one thing people say before their lives come to an end.
One of the biggest questions humans are faced with in life is: what happens when we die?
We've heard stories of bright lights, experiences flashing before our eyes and voices guiding us the right way, but hospice nurse Julie McFadden has a better understanding than most.
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McFadden, who goes by Hospice Nurse Julie on social media, has amassed more than 369,000 followers on Instagram and 1.5 million on TikTok by sharing her insights into death, with the hope of removing the morbid stigma around the topic.
Recently, McFadden spoke further about her knowledge of death on an episode of businessman and author Rob Moore's podcast, 'Disruptors'.
In the episode, released on 15 July, McFadden explained that she's seen 'hundreds' of people die during her career, which included working in an Intensive Care Unit before she moved to hospice work.
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As a result, McFadden has come to recognize two wishes a lot of people have in common.
The first is that people wish they didn't spend so much time at work - something that's easier said than done when we have bills to pay.
The second and even more common, however, relates to something we have more power over.
McFadden explained: “The main thing people say, that I don't hear a lot of people mention, is ‘I wish I would have appreciated my health’.”
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Having been given a rare insight into the minds of those in their final hours, McFadden has attempted to learn from them and now writes a 'gratitude list' each night to remember what people take for granted, and what she's grateful for.
“I like the fact that I can breathe, I'm walking around, I can feel the sunshine – little things like that,” she explained.
“I think the biggest thing I hear from people [who are] dying is that they wish they would have appreciated how well they felt before.”
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If you've ever had a blocked nose and longed to get your full breathing ability back, you might be somewhat familiar with this experience.
However, McFadden pointed out that being grateful for it everyday makes it even sweeter.
Explaining why she's so vocal about the experience of death, the nurse added: "I believe that people should know about the dying process before they're actually going through it with a loved one or themselves."