What really happens when we die? Palliative care doctor on a 'mission to take away the fear' reveals the stages the body goes through

A retired expert has revealed what nan last moments earlier decease look like, successful a bid to thief group 'tackle nan fear' of passing on.

Cheshire-born expert Dr Kathryn Mannix, 64 - who spent 30 years arsenic a palliative attraction expert - appeared on BBC Woman's Hour alongside host Emma Barnett, to discuss her caller short animation ‘Dying for Beginners’.

In a snippet posted to Instagram, Kathryn collapsed down nan process, and what happens to your body, which she compared to an 'old mobile phone' that fails to charge.

In a bid to dispel immoderate of nan fears astir death, she said towards nan extremity of life a batch of group will beryllium unconscious. 

'It's not a frightening intelligence authorities to beryllium in, it's a authorities of not knowing anything,' she said.  

Answering Emma's petition to explicate nan 'process' down dying, she said: 'The first point that's noticeable is conscionable that nan assemblage starts to tally retired of energy, almost for illustration erstwhile you've sewage an aged mobile telephone and nan artillery won't enactment charged.

'And nan charger is sleep. More than food, much than drink. And successful truth a batch of dying group don't consciousness very quiet and that's fine. They're not dying because they're not eating. They're not eating because their assemblage is dying.

'So arsenic clip goes by group gradually request much slumber to springiness them intervals of capable power to deliberation and do what they can. And gradually group go not conscionable asleep, but unconscious.

'Now they don't recognise nan difference. It's not a frightening intelligence authorities to beryllium in, it's a authorities of not knowing anything'. 

The master explained that arsenic your assemblage enters its last moments, you go unconscious 'all of nan time' arsenic life ebbs distant - a acold outcry from nan play often depicted successful Hollywood movies.

She besides addressed nan alleged decease rattle, laboured breathing that tin sound distressing. 

She explained: 'The encephalon runs reflex breathing patterns that move backwards and forwards betwixt rather heavy breathing that gradually becomes more  shallow.

'And past backmost to nan opening again, and backwards and forwards betwixt periods of rather slow breathing, much accelerated breathing, backmost to slow breathing again.

'Now if you haven't seen that before, you mightiness deliberation that nan personification who is breathing, possibly accelerated but shallow, is struggling to respire aliases is panting aliases is uncomfortable.'

Dr Kathryn described this arsenic a motion of 'deep unconsciousness', and urged others to return statement of nan symptoms arsenic they creep in.

'This personification is rather safe,' she added. 'And past astatine nan very extremity of somebody's life location will usually beryllium 1 of those slow breathing phases.

'There will beryllium a activity retired that conscionable doesn't person different activity successful aft it, which is not astatine each what Hollywood has lead america each to expect.'

She said that knowing these facts will not make decease immoderate little sad for people's loved ones, but she hopes it will make it look little scary.  

'To return distant nan fear, I deliberation is nan ngo I'm on,' she concluded.

Kathryn qualified arsenic a cognitive behaviour therapist successful 1993, earlier starting nan UK's first CBT session exclusively for palliative attraction patients.

Last year, she wrote Listen:How to Find nan Words for Tender Conversation - a book astir having honorable conversations astir death.