Working in end-of-life care often brings moments of deep sorrow, but sometimes, it reveals something quietly extraordinary. Hospice nurse and death care coach Katie Duncan has witnessed one such mystery over and over again: a gesture made by many patients just before they die—a motion both inexplicable and oddly comforting.
Katie, a nurse practitioner from Maryland, has spent years supporting people through their final days, whether in hospital ICUs, long-term care homes, or at bedside in hospice. In a recent TikTok video, she opened up about what she calls one of the “mystical” parts of dying: the reaching.
According to Katie, it’s a gesture she’s seen many times—patients extending their arms or hands upward, as if trying to grasp something invisible in the space above them. “You’ll literally see someone reach up,” she said. “It’s like they’re trying to hold someone’s hand, or touch something in the air.”
She explained that this is sometimes accompanied by end-of-life visions—people talking to loved ones who have already passed, describing bright lights, pets, even angelic figures. “They might say, ‘Mom is here,’ or smile at a corner of the room no one else is looking at. Other times, they say nothing, but their body moves in that direction—upward.”
Though there’s no medical explanation for these occurrences, they’re well known in hospice circles. And far from being alarming, Katie emphasized that these experiences usually bring comfort. “They don’t look scared,” she said. “They look at peace. These visions, whatever they are, seem to help.”