: What really happens when someone “dies in their sleep”? And is it really as peaceful and calming as people say it is?
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“Dying in your sleep” could be any number of things. The only thing that makes it peaceful is that you (at least theoretically) didn’t wake up for your death. You still went through a cataclysmic failure of bodily systems.
As a paramedic, I’ve gone to many early morning “unconscious person” calls where a person died in the night, later determined to have had a heart attack or stroke.
Some times you find the bathroom disturbed (vomit in the sink, etc.) showing that they woke up sick during the night and didn’t call 911, instead choosing to go back to bed. Sometimes it happens too fast to even wake up for, which is more likely in patients who are in worse shape.
As for it being peaceful, I’ve seen more than a few with vomit everywhere, shit everywhere with thrashed sheets and knocked over table lamps. Strokes and heart attacks are painful and confusing, especially if they come on fast or unexpectedly.
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