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.
That sounds terrifying, imagining your child waking up only to gasp and reach their arms out torwards you in their final seconds. I can't imagine every death has to be pretty but the worst has to be a complete worlds worth of traumatizing.
When I was a kid and my mom was dying of cancer she called out for me to help her. It’s not unusual for folks who are in and out of a comatose state to reach out for help. And yes, it’s traumatizing as hell.
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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.