Have you witnessed a death up close?

[Gsara]

I can still remember every face like it was yesterday. Retired military since 2009.

[kaamila]

i used to live in the ghetto from age 6 til 18. when i was about 12-13 it was like 8-9 at night and me and some friends were at the park bench, this white guy came into the neighborhood with what looked like a new honda civic, trying to buy some drugs. the drug dealers thought he was a cop(never cared to find out if he was), yanked him out of the car and shot him a few times. growing up in that area my mentality has always been "i didnt see anything" and to this day, i mind my own business and dont get into the business of others as long as its not happening to me. although that kind of thinking is starting to slowly deteriorate the longer im away from that environment

[Dhurn]

Only once, I was working as an attendant in a hospice facility and had been caring for one man in particular for about 8 months (he was a tough old bastard, WW2 ship captain, took him a while to let go). When it was clear he was on his way out his family asked me to come in with them, it was quite sad but peaceful.

[Deleted]

Sadly no. Several times I had good chances for that, but it eluded me. Tough luck.

[Shennanigans]

I'm a nurse, worked in ICUs and ERs. I'm not phased by dead ppl unless its someone I'm close with. Family or close friend. Guess its a coping mechanism.

[Fitzgerald77]

I've seen real people die on the internet.... But actually before my eyes? Never. I was with my 18 year old dog when we put her down last year though if that counts

[Deleted]

I'm a paramedic, so yeah I've seen people die.

When I talk about the impact a persons death has on me there are always a few things that should be taken into consideration. As I said, I'm a paramedic so I guess that other people's sicknesses and misfortunes are what I make a living off. What's sort of hard to come by is when you see young people dying and you just can't help them at all (mostly talking about CPR here). Such things have an impact on me. For me it's important that I can talk to my co-workers afterwards. Older people dying due some sort of myocardial infarction or stroke usually doesn't touch me that much. It's the circle of life, people die...

[Wishblade]

Fortunately I haven't, yet. I haven't seen any creature die, course I've seen dead animals like roadkill, but not a creature dying in front of my eyes.

[Glyphtics]

Was about 10 metres away from an teenage Asian (probably foreign), when she ran across a very busy / congested road, and got killed by a bus hitting her. She didn't take any notice of the traffic lights / flow of traffic, etc. She pretty much became a splatter on the ground. In regards to how it effected me, It didn't. Can't control what's happened the past, so just have to move on.

[goodwrench]

Ive seen quite a few dead bodys, quite a few deaths. Its part of my job. It doesn't bother me, you have to keep an emotional detachment from what you watch. The only one I have ever had effect me was a roll over collision, and there was so much gib everywhere that we couldn't tell how many people that was in the pile of body parts, and there was a baby seat in the truck. Upon contacting the wife of the registered owner we found out that there should be a newborn baby, her father, and a dog in the truck. I was pretty distraught by not being able to find the baby, and it was only a few hours later we discovered that the baby was dropped off at his moms house, and he was taking his infirmed dog to be put down.

On a whole you have to keep an emotional detachment from the people you're helping though. Ive handled over 50 fatals in the 7 years ive been on. People die driving all day, every day.

[Ashnazg]

When I was a kid, we used to camp on this fast mountain river, and there'd always be drunk people who would drown in it because they would overestimate their ability to handle the current.

We camped there every year from when I was 10 to 15, so in those 5 years, I saw 4 corpses washed up on the shore where we camped (there was a little bay where the current slowed down), and once I saw two people drown basically in front of my eyes because they could not escape. Not really that close, I guess, but close enough

[Vizardlorde]

I accidentally killed a puppy when I was 7 that's about it

[Catta]

It's true that butchering an animal is awfully (and gruesomely) familiar. All the bits look the same. It doesn't put me off of my dinner, though it does make it harder to take an animal apart. There's this... Threshold you need to cross, so to speak. After that, you're fine.

All surgeons start on pigs.

[poser765]

I saw a plane crash at an airshow when I was a kid. It was an aerobatic plane doing a routine. aircraft went stright up to about 300 feet, then straight back down...right into the ground. Big crash. big fireball. The pilot died, obviously. Fortunately for him the reason he crashed was because of the heat. They estimated it was about 130 F in the cockpit and he lost consciousness.

[Stir]

All surgeons start on pigs.

I know.
And the threshold you need to cross is there for every single animal you'll be picking apart afterwards. The fact that surgeons start on pigs has no reflection on the initial queasiness you feel after having grown accustomed to taking humans apart.

[Deleted]

Have you ever seen or witnessed someone's death? If so, what happened? And how did it impact you?

Seen several and carry partial responsibility for a couple in the course of three deployments. It stays with you, and there's not a shred of glory or honor about it even if it can at times be a necessary evil. I don't wake up screaming or have flashbacks or anything like that, but I do think about it from time to time. It never phased me in the moment, however, it always took a little while to actually hit me.

It's definitely not something to glorify or want for.

Edit: I also watched my grandfather go, but that was calm and quiet, knowing he was surrounded by loved ones and had led a full, happy life.

[Nathiest]

Does an open casket count?

It was a really good friend of mine. When it was my turn I was so shocked! It was a very eye opening experiences. However never again. I won't, I won't, I won't put myself through that again. I'll pay my respects another way.

[Donald Hellscream]

then i was 16 my girlfriend got sick and died because the doctors thought it was just a flu, turns out it wasn't and then they found out it was too late to save her. I started skipping school just to drink myself senseless just to numb the emotional pain. Today i have come to terms with myself and acknowledged that dwelling on such things forever won't do me any good, visiting her grave is still hard though.

[Deleted]

Not really, but i've seen the "aftermath" of an accidents when a car hit a pedestrian. The ambulance arrived a almost a minute after me and the place was already filled with people. It was a horrible experience.
The day after i read in the newspaper that the victim passed away.

[Deathpath]

I watched my grandpa die in the hospital. He had a massive heart attack acouple of days before and died in the ambulance then they revived him but most of his brain cells were dead except his brain stem so he would never be conscious again. So they decided to pull the plug and my family was there watching him pass.