Karlis Osis and Erlendur Haraldsson, authors of At the Hour of Death, report: Apparitions can quickly alter the mind of a patient and bring about acceptance of death.
A 68-year-old Polish housewife was afflicted with cancer. Her mind was clear. She was settling some financial matters and asked for her purse. She had not thought of dying. Then she saw her husband who had died twenty years before. She was happy, with a sort of religious feeling and, according to her doctor, she lost all fear of death. Instead of fearing death, she felt it to be the logical, correct thing. She died with 5 or 10 minutes.
A nurse in a large hospital in New Delhi reported the following case which impressed her.
A female patient in her forties—who was suffering from cancer and during the last preceding days, had been depressed and drowsy, though always clear—suddenly looked very happy. A joyful expression remained on her face until she died five minutes later.
In the case of an old man with tuberculosis, it was reported:
His serenity was so sudden. One day he said to me, ‘Mrs. Jones, will you bring me a tall glass of water with lots of ice? I did. He drank it and said, ‘Mrs. Jones, this water will see me through the Jordan.’ I think that by referring to the water of the Jordan, he was telling me that he was going to died. He died in 90 minutes. They, the doctors, were very surprised at his sudden death, for there were no visible signs of imminent demise.
Another nurse reported on another patient:
Suddenly one day there was a complete change. He was conscious; his appetite improved. He could do things for himself. He was improved both physically and mentally. The pulse was stronger, the temperature remained the same, and the appetite greatly increased. The gain was not a real improvement, however, for he died within 24 hours.
A physician in a city hospital in India reported on this patient’s experience.
A male patient in his seventies had been suffering from advanced cancer. He had been in great pain, sleepless and restless. One day after he had managed to get a little sleep, he woke up smiling, seemed suddenly free from all physical pain and agony, detached, calm, and peaceful. For the last six hours the patient had only received a very moderate dose of phenobarbital, a relatively weak sedative. He bade all good-bye, one by one, which he had not done before, and told us that he was going to die. He was fully alert for some 10 minutes. Then he fell into a coma and died peacefully a few minutes later.
In another Indian case there were no medical reasons for dying, but premonitions of death accompanied the patient’s elevation in mood.
Post-operative female: Suddenly she said she was going to leave this world, although we did not at all expect her to die. She also told this to visitors and attendants, and thanked them with gratitude. She was relaxed and well-oriented. She recognized people. We thought she would come out nicely. At the last round, I found her feeling happy, relaxed. She spoke about dying very soon. The next morning, she died.
At the Hour of Death (Hastings House, 1997) written by Karlis Osis and Erlendur Haraldsson reports on a four-year study involving fifty thousand terminally ill patients observed just before death by one thousand doctors and nurses in the United States and India.
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