According to researchers, these are things you see moments before you die

• A research study found that terminally ill patients often report seeing bright lights, open doors and staircases in their final days.

• These end-of-life dreams and visions can help patients confront their fears and hopes about dying.

• About one in 10 reported cases involved distressing visions, which may be linked to trauma.

When you’re just at your deathbed, waiting to shut your eyes one final time, white light and open doors are some of the most probable images you will see, a scientific study has found.

Italian scientists at Azienda USL-IRCCS di Reggio Emilia discovered in their research that vivid dreams and visions are what terminally ill patients often report seeing in their final days. Many of these images are rather comforting than frightening.

This research was based on a study of 239 palliative care professionals in Italy and was reported by MetroUK.

The study found that patients close to death claim to see dead loved ones and relative or symbolic images like staircases, bright light and doorways. Many of the people in this category claimed to reunite with their late spouses, parents, relatives or even their beloved pets.

One woman was reported to have seen her husband say to her, “I’m waiting for you,” while other surreal experiences involved moving from one state to another, such as “climbing barefoot toward an open door filled with light”, while others spoke of “stairways, thresholds and bright spaces.”

Others had more cinematic images like “a white horse galloping along the shoreline”.

These end-of-life dreams and visions (ELDVs), the scientists said, help patients deal with fears and hopes of dying in a way that even conversations cannot.

“[They] carry an important relational potential, allowing people to approach otherwise unspeakable topics through a symbolic mode of expression, bypassing the obstacles of rational language, which can instead trigger defensive reactions such as denial,” the report explained.

However, not all these visions and dreams were as pleasant and peaceful.

The research states that 1 out of 10 of the studied cases were distressful experiences. One patient was said to have seen her mother’s face dragging her down.

For these unpleasant experiences, the scientists explain, it may mean that the patient has not received medical or emotional care, which may have arisen from traumatic memories or physical pain. 

Chief Medical Officer at Hospice Buffalo in New York State, Christopher Kerr, says patients often see those they were once familiar with.

“What’s really interesting is it’s not random who comes to you – it’s always those people who loved and secured you,” says the CMO.

“We’ve also had lots of veterans, and whatever wounds or burdens they’re carrying are often addressed in their end-of-life dreams.”

By Akinjide Adebowale