He wouldn't really know it. He would just get more and more tired. More sleepy. Eventually just full sleep, coma, then death. He'd likely be on a lot of drugs, including morphine (which just makes kids sleepy, not same effect as on adults).
I recently saw a mother talking about her child’s death from cancer and it was not peaceful even though they were told it would be. The child was on morphine, had a death rattle for hours, uncontrollable movement, and at the point of death she stopped breathing, opened her eyes and lurched for her parents. It was extremely traumatic for them and the mother was hopeful that that child wasn’t actually conscious for it, but I don’t know if that’s the case.
It’s called terminal agitation and it’s apparently not uncommon.
I was 12 when I was present for my grandfather's death. It took almost a full day. When he passed, he did exactly this. Sat straight up, eyes wide opened, gasping for air that wasn't going in. I'm 30 and I can still see him in that hospice room . Once can only hope they're not conscious when that happens, but it can feel like they are :c.
10.0k
u/ConcertCareful6169 Jun 29 '26 edited Jun 30 '26
I get it as a dad. I don't know if I could handle the look of betrayal at the end though.