Have you ever witnessed another person's death?

Question

How did it affect you? Did the experience change your perspective on things like life after death, god, your own mortality, or the concept of time? Is death really the great leveller? Do we have a responsibility to witness well?

Answer 1

I witnessed my fiance's suicide, and my daughter was stillborn.

I can't say that it did anything to change my beliefs, but it definately changed me as a person. I've learned to appreciate the little things, and I don't sweat the small stuff.

When you survive something such as burying a child, you soon learn that, barring serious illness or death, it's all small stuff.

I've become more calm and serene as a result.

Answer 2

Yes, I worked in a nursing facility for many years and so I witnessed it more than once. The first time was difficult because when I saw the man take his last breath and when he finally died I thought "is this it". You always hear people say that when a person dies there is a feeling of peace as if it is spiritual or something. Well, all I felt was an incredible loss, a life gone, that was it. It was very hard for me to understand and I cried a long time that night. That feeling has always made me think about the existence of an afterlife and God. I now question it. Someday we all are going to have to die. If the life you are living now is the only thing that you have as existence is a question no one on this earth can answer no matter how hard they try.

Answer 3

On October 13, 1984, Mrs Gandhi started for the venue of a photoshoot and handed her purse to one guard and her parasol to the other. When she came to the spot where the assassins were waiting to ambush and kill her, there was no bodyguard in readiness. The rule that bodyguards be men trained in the latest techniques and have their hands free had been broken. No one put up a fight to save India’s Prime Minister. She was killed by her own bodyguards because she would not heed the advice of her security officers.

After her death, Hari Pillai was savaged by people who should have known better. ( Hari Pillai was crucified after the assassination of Mrs Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards.)

Death did not necessarily bring out the best in people. The idea that ‘Death is the Great Leveller’ can be given up. This idea is older than the ‘Liberty / Fraternity / Equality’ slogans preached during the French Revolution (1789). The above instance shows that equality remains merely an idea and is nowhere near becoming a reality, amongst the senslessness of it all, past, now and the future yet to unfold.

Answer 4

Yes. Physical and spiritual both. several actually.

I have been a Christian for 46 years. It didn't change my faith. It only made it stronger. I was a Sheriff and Coroner for 9 years. I saw death on a daily basis. I have been and still currently "contracted" with 12 Funeral Homes for burial services.
Until a person sees these things on a daily basis, you really can't understand 100% just how real, DEATH is. The after effects of a family, tells it all.
You can stand and watch a "christian" funeral compared to a "unbeliever" funeral. It is overwhelmingly different.
What is the difference? Something. and that is a fact.

Great Q*.
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Answer 5

I was about to say that you'll find it hard-pressed to find someone talk about it, but after reading the first two answers, I realized that I was thinking of my own experiences. There's a big difference between witnessing a quiet, peaceful death than a violent one, and I'll just leave it at that.

Answer 6

I saw a boy, about ten years old, run over by a tractor trailer truck. It was gruesome, sad, horrifying, sickening, and a whole lot of other things I can't put in to words.

It made me realize that death happens to all of us. It isn't an event that will take place in some nebulous future, but rather in a moment identical to this one. In that moment, none of the stupid stuff that we believe is important, like politics, money, religion, who ate the last Pop Tart, gas prices, etc. will be important. And that moment is just like this one. None of the superfluous nonsense that we get worked up about means a thing.

Answer 7

Yeah I witnessed a few peoples death including my grandmother and other family members. No it did not change my perspective on death, god or anything else. I was told what death is when I was a little kid. I get the process of death I don't believe in any afterlife. You get placed in a casket and buried in the ground and your body decomposes, end of the process.

Answer 8

I have seen many people die. It makes me want to appreciate people, sunsets, laughter. I never take anything too serious about myself. I would like to live as every step was the end. I definitely do not believe in a loving god or one that answers prayers.

I get caught up with the hassles of life. Then I remember what a great gift life it is.

Answer 9

I had the opportunity to be at the bedside of my grandfather and my dad when they passed away. There was no struggle in either one. Just a passing from death to life is how I looked at it. My dad especially had a remarkable view of death. He was so sure of where he was going after death that it lost all mystery, fear, or nervousness. He was an example to me and just confirmed my beliefs even more.

Answer 10

Yes, I was with my grandma when she died. I sat there and held her hand as she went to sleep in death. Also had twin grandsons that were born too early and I sat there and held my daughter as she held them as they went to sleep in death. I was sadden to see them die. I felt pain like no other. I cried for myself, especially for my grandmother, because I knew that she would not be able to hold or comfort me anymore. She was one of a kind and I still miss her. I am glad though that she or my grand babies are not in anymore pain.
No it hasn't changed my perspective on life after death, because I have God's word that they are just sleeping, knowing nothing, feeling nothing, until Jesus comes again and resurrects them.
My grandma and I talked alot about when she would die and what would take place. She had super strong faith in God. And with everything we spoke of proves to me that she is indeed asleep in death waiting for her resurrection.