Chuxing Kue
When faced with those facing certain death what do you say to them? Do you tell them everything’s going to be alright or tell the truth that they are going to die? It’s a lot of pressure on one person but it happens all the time of first responders. They are the ones who really have to deal with this question. They have been trained to tell the dying everything’s going to be okay but Matthew O’Reilly says otherwise.
Matthew O’Reilly is a veteran emergency medical technician on Long Island, New York for seven years now. He gave a speech on TED talks on July 2014 on this issue of what to tell dying people. It was a short speech but really painted a different picture of how dying people respond to being told that they were dying. He told his personal story of how the dying responded to him telling them the truth. Early in his career he lied to the dying because he was afraid that the truth would send fear into their last minutes of being alive causing them to start grasping for life. It all changed for him in one incident that involved a motorcycle accident in which the rider had suffered heavy injuries and wasn’t going to make it. He decided to tell the rider the truth and his reaction shocked Matthew till this day. The motorcycle rider’s reaction was to simply lay back and accept that he was dying. There was no fear that Matthew was so afraid of on the riders face just inner peace. This event is the whole reason Matthew was talking on TED talks. Contrary to popular belief when those who are facing with impending death, telling them that they are going to die is not the wrong thing to say. In Matthew’s stories he tells us that it will bring inner peace to those who are dying. His story was meant to change the opinions of the first responders and even those who might be face with this hard question of “am I going to die.”
The first way his personal story showed this was from the first story he told about the motorcycle rider. There is a lot of fear of telling someone that they are going to dying because of their reaction to the truth but according to Matthews’ story it only gave inner peace to those dying. This was the reason Matthew now tells those who are dying the truth now. To give someone peace in their last minutes is what everyone wants to gives to those who are facing certain death. There was no fear in their eyes and that means everything to those who have to watch them die. This is a first step in the right direction for those who have to comfort the dying.
The second way his personal story aimed to change the current views on telling the truth versus lying to the dying was his story about a lady who was pinned under a car. Matthew brought up that the dying all want to leave something in this world. In the time he spent talking to she said to him that she wish that she had done much more with her life but as they continued to talk he found out she had adopted two kids who were in college to become doctors. So if it wasn’t for her these two kids would have never had gotten the chance to save lives in the future. It’s the little things that give you peace in those finial moments.
There will be no fear in the eyes of those who are dying if told the truth. Lying to them only shows how much fear you have of their reactions to the truth. Matthew O’Reilly’s story augured that the truth will give peace to those who are in their final minutes. This could change a lot in the first responders’ field who have to deal with this more often than the everyday person would have to. It also sparks up an idea that would give better comfort to those who are scared and full of fear. To leave this world with peace rather than fear is what first responders aim for when they can’t save the dying. It also gives the responders peace knowing they helped comfort them in their last moments.