This study began 20 years ago, but a recent Instagram post by former Australian paramedic Nikki Jurcutz suggests it remains a common experience.<\/p>\n
The Melbourne mum now owns Tiny Hearts Education, teaching parents first aid information, but moments with dying patients calling out for their mother have stuck with her, even years after calling time on the profession.<\/p>\n
\u201cI heard it myself a handful of times, and those moments have stayed with me for years,\u201d Jurcutz told news.com.au.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been reported in soldiers dying on battlefields, in hospices, and in palliative care, across different countries and different decades, in every language. That\u2019s what makes it so amazing. It\u2019s not tied to one type of person or one part of the world. It seems to be something in all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
A specific moment with an elderly woman who died while she was on a job still stays with her.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen she said it, it didn\u2019t sound like she was calling out for her mum. It sounded like a statement, almost like she was seeing her,\u201d Jurcutz recounted.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike the two of them were being reunited rather than her reaching for someone who wasn\u2019t there. I will never forget that moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the social media post, many commenters shared their own experience with their dying loved ones.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy dad did this in palliative care. He was in so much pain, even in his sleep, that he called out for his mum. We found comfort in the idea that perhaps nana was there to take him home,\u201d one commenter revealed.<\/p>\n
Another shared: \u201cI\u2019ll never forget my Nanna calling out for her Mum in her final moments.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is true. When my older brother died from a drug overdose, even though him and my mum lost contact for years, he still called out for her during his final moments,\u201d a third wrote.<\/p>\n
Others reflected on their own experience as a mother, remarking on the powerful insight Jurcutz had shared.<\/p>\n
\u201cReading those was the moment it really hit me. This isn\u2019t just something I saw on the road. It\u2019s something so many people have quietly lived through with the people they love, and it\u2019s the same every time,\u201d Jurcutz said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo me that\u2019s a reminder of how special the role of a mum is. You\u2019re the first safe place your child ever knows, and you stay their safest place right to the end.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thea McCroary has worked in palliative care for 18 years and believes there\u2019s a lot of grace in our final moments.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou go back to some of your happiest memories,\u201d the COO of Prestige Inhome Care told news.com.au.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt shows right up until the very end that people, and mothers in particular \u2026 are still caring for others.\u201d<\/p>\n
In her experience, watching a loved one call out for their mother can aid in the grief for those who are left behind.<\/p>\n
\u201cFamilies are fearful of losing them, but there\u2019s some comfort knowing they have someone with them, or that they\u2019re feeling connected to their mum,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n
She believes that the act of calling out for a loved one is a reminder of what is important.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t ever hear anyone saying they wish they worked more,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen it strips back at the end, the last words are often about who they loved and who loved them in return.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sign up to Herald Premium Editor\u2019s Picks<\/a>, delivered straight to your inbox every Friday. Editor-in-Chief Murray Kirkness picks the week\u2019s best features, interviews and investigations. Sign up for Herald Premium here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This study began 20 years ago, but a recent Instagram post by former Australian paramedic Nikki Jurcutz suggests…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":466114,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[806,15168,1558,3043,8344,309,42834,1866,2082,5962,15167,685,3025,6178,2891,111,139,69,384,2214,1109,213,165,8229,28066,1316,27630],"class_list":["post-466113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-as","tag-bare","tag-been","tag-call","tag-common","tag-die","tag-dying","tag-find","tag-for","tag-humans","tag-laid","tag-last","tag-most","tag-mother","tag-motherhood","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-people","tag-researchers","tag-scale","tag-sports","tag-their","tag-they","tag-true","tag-when","tag-word"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=466113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466113\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/466114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=466113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=466113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=466113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}