We had a patient who was actively dying. His family had decided to put him on comfort care and allow him to die peacefully. Unfortunately, his wife was suffering from cancer at the same time as his heart failure really escalated. She had to undergo abdominal surgery while he was in the hospital. Two days after her surgery, she was able to come and visit him in the hospital. She sat by his side all day long as the nurses and doctors removed him from the ventilator and turned off all of his medications.

As evening came, she had to head home because she lived an hour from the hospital and didn't want to be driving at night in her condition. She had two main requests:

1) That her husband not die alone.

2) That his Bible be sent with him to the funeral home.

As the night went on, Hanna was closely monitoring his vital signs. When his heart rate began to slow and his SpO2 began to drop, she went in and sat by his bedside and held his hand. She opened his Bible to the book of Psalms and began reading to him from the 23rd chapter. She sat with him as he passed from this life into the next. It was such a peaceful and rare moment in the ICU. Usually, whenever patients pass, their family members are at the bedside sharing this moment with them. If nurses and doctors are around the bedside for a death, it is usually because the patient has coded and they are doing everything to save the life. The wife was so appreciative that her sweet husband wasn't alone when he died. She was unable to be with him, but she found so much comfort knowing that he was surrounded by people and listening to Words from His Savior.