With experience across intensive care units, home hospices, and long-term care settings, she’s observed a pattern she finds both inexplicable and deeply moving.

In a recent TikTok video, Katie described what she calls one of the “mystical” parts of the dying process: many patients begin reaching upwards, as if trying to grasp something unseen above them.

“In my experience, it’s very common,” she said in the video. “You’ll literally see someone reach up, like they’re trying to hold someone’s hand or touch something in the air.”

Sometimes, this gesture is accompanied by what are known as end-of-life visions. “People often say they’re seeing someone, a loved one, a pet, even an angel or a bright light,” Katie explained. “Other times, they don’t speak at all, but still reach