25 ‘Accidental Killers’ Explain How They Ended Up With Blood On Their Hands

1. I murdered my daughter’s psycho ex

“My middle daughter’s nutcase ex-boyfriend smashed the glass out of our dining room slider while we were eating supper. He burst in wielding a single bit axe. My kids fled while I attempted to reason with him. Then I fled, once I realized there was no reasoning with him.

He followed me. I tossed a cushion from the living room sofa at him, then retreated to my bedroom.

He followed me and broke down the door.

I blew him apart with my little coach gun. Both barrels.

The powers that be charged it off as justifiable homicide.

My girls and I spent six weeks in a cheap motel until we found a different house to rent.” — pissbum-emeritus

2. I pushed a knife into his throat

“I worked as a bouncer in California for five years while I went to college. There were lots of fights and squabbles. But they usually ended with no one getting hurt. With a few exceptions.

One in particular was a fellow who ran in, jumped over the bar and started throwing the bottles everywhere. Then he lit a match and threw it on the ground. Fire didn’t spread or do anything because it missed the alcohol. But I was grabbing him and hauling him back over the bar to restrain him while they called the cops.

He slashed me across my neck, clavicle, and chest with a switchblade and when I grabbed his arms to protect my face he still cut my face six more times. 96 stitches.

I was on my own. Just some kids in the bar and a female bartender so I just pushed his knife back into his throat while he kept trying to slash at my face, snapping his wrist in half in the process. I wasn’t even trying to kill or do any of that. I was just scared shitless I was going to die defending a bar. Even worse was while I was trying to stop his bleeding he was still swinging at me. He was definitely on some uppers.

My guilt is that even though I was bigger and more experienced, I wasn’t able to just solve the problem without any serious injuries. So I killed somebody.

With 9 witnesses, cameras, and one phone video, there was nothing criminal.

But I can’t touch someones arms or hands without feeling like I’ll snap their wrist in half backwards. It was sickening. Of course I quit the next day.

He was the ex boyfriend of another bartender who wasn’t even there that day. I think he might have killed the bartender that was there though so I’m glad I was there.” — akjoltoy

3. I murdered my own father

“I was 15, my father was horribly abusive to my mother, me and 4 other siblings. Like, he didn’t allow us schooling as the abuse was so evident.

Well it was my 15th birthday, and he had refused to buy me gifts or anything as he believed I was ‘too spoiled for gifts, and too fat for cake’ so like any 15-year old I cried.

My mother baked me a cake anyway when she thought that he left, but he came back right when we were cutting it.

It was horrible, he mashed the cake on the ground and pushed her into it. He had a steal bar that he was beating her with even when she was unconscious.

I couldn’t take it anymore, I couldn’t stand by and let him kill her. While his back was turned and standing over my barely there mother, I took the gun that he left on the counter and just shot him.

I can still remember how everything seemed to slow down and stop. I shot him about four times, that’s what I was told I can’t remember honestly.

I do remember working in autopilot, I gathered up all my siblings and packed all our stuff into a car. My sister and I cleaned up our mother and laid her across the seat.

We drove to the nearest ER where we were already ‘frequent fliers’ from my father. This time was obviously different, the nurses were horrified and rushed us all to a separate room from the waiting room.

Child services was called, but none of us would speak until my mother was back. It was a mess.

Eventually it was ruled that it was third party self-defense or something, we packed our bags and we moved to Florida.

I know there will be the ‘why didn’t you leave’ argument. But this was a man who tracked us two towns over, brought us back, locked me in a closet and later tried to light me on fire. This was literally my only way out.” — Verylame1

4. I smashed him in the head with a bat

“I was 17, mom and dad left my 12 year old sister and I alone at home while they went to a wedding.

It’s about 2 AM and I had just laid down in bed, I hear a loud bang come from downstairs and then footsteps.

Being a paranoid kid being left alone already, I had a portable phone next to my bed and a baseball bat underneath it. I grab the phone and the bat and quietly sneak into my sister’s room. I can hear the footsteps downstairs, and I can see that they’ve turned my kitchen light on.

I call 911 as I wake my sister up and tell her to be quiet. She can tell what’s up and she gets scared and starts crying. I can’t remember exactly, but I swear I actually stuffed a sock in her mouth. She denies that part. I tell her to go hide in the closet, which she does.

Anyways, there’s a small balcony that hangs over the garage accessible from her window, so I open the window and prepare to kick the screen out. As I’m doing that, I can hear the footsteps coming up the stairs.

Not wanting to make noise by kicking the screen out, I abandon that plan and go into the closet. I keep the closet door adjacent to the bedroom door open and hide behind it with the bat ready.

The guy comes into the bedroom, he starts to walk in front of the closet and I swing the bat out the second he comes into my field of view. Caught him right in the temple.

He goes down on the floor. He’s making a weird groaning sound and rolling. Being 17 and full of adrenaline, I hit him in the head again while he’s down. He stops groaning and rolling. Lots of blood.

My sister and I hide in the closet until the cops show up. I really don’t know how long we were waiting there. I was numb.

Cops ask us questions. I try to tell them everything but I’m in shock. My sister can barely speak. They found my grandparents number and called them. Grandparents live about an hour away so the cops wait with us until my grandma shows up. Parents were home about 4 hours later, obviously they drove home immediately when the cops called them but the wedding was far.

About a week goes by and the cops come to our house and talk to my parents. Turns out the guy had a butchers knife on him and no bag or anything. He was probably just there to kill someone. Had a history of mental illness.

It was on the local news for a while. We had reporters hounding us constantly. My dad almost beat the hell out of some reporter who tried to ask my sister questions.

It messed me up really bad. I slept with the lights on until I was 23. Lost all of my friends. Saw a therapist for 12 years. I’m married and in a good spot with it now. I still sleep with a gun in the drawer even though I live in a nice suburb with virtually no crime. I realize I did what needed to be done, but I probably think about it at least once a day.

My sister was traumatized. It fucked her up. I don’t want to go into much detail because it’s depressing to think about let alone type out. She’s better now though, but she still suffers from PTSD.

It was horrific night. One of those things you never think will happen. Stay smart and be ready for anything.” — Story-throwaway

5. I shot him in the stomach after he slashed me

“I own a diesel performance shop and many nights stay up there till midnight, ill leave my office doors open if the weather feels nice.

There is a bar next to my shop so I am use to people walking through my parking lot or by my office and never think about it. This night it was a Friday and a guy stumbles up to my door mumbling. I cant understand him so I walk over and ask him if he is okay. He then straightened up and pulls a knife and slashed my face. Told me he knew today I payed all my guys in cash and to give him what was left.

I told him I only withdraw the exact amount for payroll and he tells me something ill never forget, ‘Get me money or your momma gonna be going to a funeral this week.’

I said okay, reached in my desk and pulled out a 380 a customer sold me the week before and shot twice. First one hit his stomach second his leg. I was trying me non-fatal but as it turns out apparently most shots in the leg are because of a major artery. I tied off his leg while waiting for the police he was dead before they got there.

I don’t regret it, it turned out he was on meth so who knows how it would have gone for me. I also sincerely believe if you threaten someones life you forfeit your own. Sad thing is his parents are customers of mine I went to the funeral. They told me they don’t blame me and they still bring their trucks to me and its really only when i see them it comes up.” — narrator_of_valhalla

6. I ran someone over with a train

“Hit a car (with a train) at a public crossing.

Edit PSA: don’t stop on the damn tracks. Wait until there is plenty of room on the other side to cross.

Also just because the crossing ‘looks unused or rusty’ doesn’t mean it is.” — FryedPigBacon

7. I shot him directly through the head

“2012, I had been doing security for about 5 months. I worked at a shithole apartment complex, which was an unarmed property. But after 2 drive bys, I requested from the property management and my company to allow me to carry while I was there. I had my armed guard card so it was legal.

3 days after I got permission to carry, I had some domestic abuse issues going on and had cops on scene. After everyone cleared out, I went back to my patrols. I was standing at an apartment building on the edge of the street. While I had my head down writing out my report, I felt a sharp pain in my back. I stood straight up and next thing I know someone has their arm around my neck in a head lock. He managed to get another stab into my stomach just under my vest. I grabbed for my firearm, pushed up in an attempt to break the hold, which was ineffective. I could feel him trying to stab, but only meeting my vest. I put my gun to the bottom of his head and pulled the trigger. His let go of his grip, and I turned around. His face was completely fucked, the angle of the gun made the bullet come out of his nose region, his jaw was flash burnt to absolute shit and just hanging like a zombie. I put 2 more into his chest when he finally fell. PCP is one hell of a drug kids.

One of the reporting officers for the domestic abuse was parked up the street. He saw the whole thing, but didn’t have time to warm me because he said the druggie was running towards me, and since I was near a busy street, I couldn’t hear him coming. I was not guilty, the guy had 2 warrants and a long list of previous criminal history from assault to grand theft auto. I haven’t really thought about it since it happened.” — Join_My_Cult

8. He died after I punched him in the face

“A guy had taken serious issue with me earlier that year (2010) over hooking up with his ex girlfriend and then dating her after. Some threatening Facebook messages was the only real interaction I had with him up until the night it happened. Fast forward a few months I was at a bar with friends, he keeps trying to start problems outside when we were smoking. I keep backing away with no want to fight this guy,telling him repeatedly that I don’t want to fight you. He swings and hits me and my reaction was to punch him in the throat, and I really don’t know why. I guess the face just seemed like it would break my hand as I had never actually punched somebody before. Well he fell back and hit his head on a curb and died later in hospital from the head injury. Police never laid charges as there was a camera on the parking lot, he was clearly the aggressor. I feel bad he died, wish he didn’t but I just kind of tell myself that he did it to himself, just very unfortunate it happened the way it did.” — theExHuman

9. I ran over a homeless man

“It haunts me, but here goes… This was last year in April, I was driving my aunt for some last minute shopping before she left for the UK the next day. Traffic in Kenya is pure chaos, basically every man for himself. Anyways I’m driving at about 50kph, suddenly I see a homeless guy jump into oncoming traffic trying to cross the road. I guess he miscalculated the speed of the oncoming bus because he was hit and sent flying right onto my lane. He lands about 2ft from the car, and at the speed I was doing it was too late to stop. Long story short there’s a very sickening sound the head makes as it explodes under pressure. I’m not sure if the impact from the bus killed him, but I sure as hell finished him off. It crosses my mind every time I get into the driver’s seat.” — HoochieCooochieMan

10. I murdered the man that jumped me

“Few years ago I was walking home at night after a pub shift and decided to cut down a ally way to save some time (it was freezing that night and I just wanted to be warm). When I got jumped by two guys. I got hit in the back of the head by a bit of wood and went stright down. Come two to feel one of the guys trying to pull my skirt and tights off, I tried fighting but seeing as he was a lot bigger than me, I really struggled. I grabbed around and grabbed a beer bottle and smashed it in his face, long story short, he bled out, and died. His friend ran off and left him.

Someone called the police, found me crying, him dead. I was arrested, questioned, soon become very apparent what happened. I wasn’t never charged, all in self defence. They never found the second guy. And to this day still think about the guy who I killed.” — Throwaway156844

11. I murdered a wife beating maniac

“This was about 2004-2006. I don’t remember the exact year anymore.

I killed a guy that tried to break into my apartment because he was wanting his wife that he had just beat the shit out of. 2am. I hear them arguing. I could hear it through my bathroom wall. I shut my bathroom then bedroom to drown it out.

2:15am. She’s banging on my door, broken nose, left eye swollen, and limping from tripping and falling to get out of the apartment. Told her to go to the bathroom, clean herself up, then hide in my bedroom.

Husband comes out of the apartment, yelling her name, and he notices her blood trail to my apartment. Starts banging on my door, yelling to let him in. I warned him 3 times that he doesn’t stop, I will kill you. He kicks the lock on the door, door swings open, and I swing my baseball bat down onto his head.

He falls to the ground stunned. He lands stomach first and I see a handgun tucked into the back of his shirt. I grab it, throw it into my apartment, and warned him one more time.

He got up, came at me, I slam my bat into his stomach, then slam my bat over his head one last time which caved his skull in. I knew from the blood spatter from when I hit, he was dead. Thankfully, the neighbors had called the police when it started and the second he fell to the ground dead, police had made it to the top of the steps.

It never affected me as much as it should have. I reacted the best way I could for the situation I was in.” — _hardliner_

12. I killed him when he tried to rape my sister

“Anyways, a few years ago, me (about 15-16), my little brother (12), and little sister (10), we were visiting my mom for… Halloween? I think. Halloween or Thanksgiving. Can’t remember.

Well my mom lives out on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere, she is basically a hermit, but speaks to a couple of her neighbors, and one particular couple had a kid my age. He was kind of messed up in the head, like would do certain “acts” to animals and stuff, and his parents were a bit questionable too, but not as bad as he was.

One day my mom had to work a double shift to have a couple days off to spend some time with us. I was left in charge and thought “No big deal, I’ve babysat my siblings before.” Well my mom got in late one night (around 4-5 a.m.) and was sleeping late the next day, ky little brother and sister playing outside, and I was playing xbox. When all of a sudden I start hearing yelling and screaming, and I get up to go look when my little brother comes running in the house holding his eye, and trying to catch his breathe. Apparently the kid from down the road had walked up, wanting to play and my brother said no, well the kid flipped his shit and hit my brother, gotta give it to my lil bro, he’s a tough lil shit, and then was holding my sister down trying to do something.

I ran out there and the kid had my sister pinned down and was trying to undress her. I ran to them as fast as I could and shoved him off of her and made my siblings go inside to get our mom, and then I started beating the shit out of him. I have anger problems but I know when to stop. And the second I did, this son of a bitch grabbed a rock and hit me in the side of the head. That didn’t help my anger issues. I guess I blacked out from anger because I don’t remember what happened next but apparently my mom had to pull me off from beating him with a rock.

I really don’t know what all happened, all I’ve been told is the kids parents were arrested, and the kids death was blamed from vein stomped on by a horse. (Which wouldn’t be weird around there, There’s a bunch of ranches with wild horses running around that kids always get hurt from trying to catch and ride them.)

I think about the situation about once a day. I really don’t know how I live with myself because I feel disgusted about it when I think about it.” — MyThroatAway

13. I attacked him with a bat

“When I was 17 i experienced a burglary. My younger sister was in the living room and I was upstairs. She screamed when she saw him and they began to struggle. I ran down stairs with a bat in hand and swung as hard as I could at his head.

He later died of a brain aneurism.” — ThereW0LF

14. I used a gun to defend myself

“3 years ago I got in a car accident with an SUV. Both at fault. Guy has a family in the car and comes out screaming saying I tried to kill his family. I tell him I’m calling the cops and he says no, then gets angry when I pull out my phone. He walks to his SUV and comes back with a pistol, I drop the phone and tell him to calm down. He keeps walking towards me, I walk to my drivers side where I keep a Glock 26 and defended myself. There was a traffic camera which recorded the entire incident and I did not face any charges. His family is still trying to sue in civil.” — LoveToHateMe666

15. I ran someone over with my car

“Other than discussing it with my wife, I haven’t talked about this much since it happened, but I actually had a nightmare about it tonight and couldn’t sleep. It was about 8 months ago and I was headed into work, it was one of my last nights coming in for an overnight shift. I drive about 45 minutes into work so I will just hit the cruise control at about 5-8 mph over the limit on my way in and enjoy the late night ESPN radio. This particular night, I had passed quite a few cops so I set it at 68 (in a 65) just to make sure I wasn’t ticketed. I was in the middle lane and was approaching a driver in front of me that was going considerably slower than myself, so I flipped my blinker on and got into the left lane. I had only been driving in the left lane for about a quarter of a mile when a guy leaped over the median and ran right out in front of me. He was only 7-10 feet in front of me, so I barely had time to hit the brakes and hit him going about 60-65 mph.

He had leapt the median like a hurdle while sprinting and never even looked at me. I remember screaming and then all I saw was white. I hit him with my front driver side and he came up and partially through the windshield. The glass just exploded and it was like a blizzard or something, just blinding. I didn’t really have time to think, I just reacted and slapped my hazards on and yanked my car over to the far right side of the highway. I was panicked and don’t remember checking to see if the right lanes were clear, I just went. Thankfully they were clear and I didn’t cause an accident.

Once I stopped the car, I grabbed my phone and called 911. I got out of the car and looked back to see him lying half in the lane and half in the median, not moving. I wanted so badly to run back and check on him, but I was so scared and the lady at 911 advised me against it. So I waited for the EMT to arrive and she stayed on the phone with me. It really sank in what had just happened when I noticed the blood and matter on my shirt from him partially coming through the windshield. I was trying to get all of the glass out of my mouth and nose etc., when I looked in the side view mirror and noticed it.

The gentleman had caused a 3 car accident on the other side of the highway and tried to run, his car broke down and he fled on foot. I was at no fault in the accident, but I still hurt for that man and his family. I pass that spot everyday on my way to work and think about him every day. I wasn’t able to sleep for a few days and when I did sleep, I had dreams of him staring me in the eyes right before I hit him..it was rough. I still have the dream from time to time but things are getting better each day.

I wrote his family a letter to express my sorrow and give my apologies, I wasn’t sure if was the right thing to do but I needed to do it. I never heard back.” — -DangleAngle-

16. I hit a motorcyclist

“Well, I ‘lawfully’ killed someone insofar as I was involved in a vehicle-to-motorcycle accident that was not my fault, was the fault of the motorcyclist, and he wound up dying.

Not much to it. I guess he just really, really misjudged his ability to get across two lanes of traffic and into the median turn lane because he pulled right out in front of me. Instincts kicked in, I ripped into the other lane, up and over the median and into oncoming traffic (which thankfully, there was none or else I would’ve been dead too). Motorcycle guy died from a neck injury, it was not fun.

The scariest part was what the cop told me at the accident scene. It was the middle of the day, there were a ton of witnesses at two nearby restaurants who saw it happen and confirmed I was not at fault, however the cop remarked that if it had happened at 11:30 PM when no witnesses were out, I’d be “tied up in court for the next 5 years, if the family decided to sue and if the jury believes their ‘experts’, you lose everything…”

Ever since then, I’ve kept all titled assets in the name of a personal LLC (as opposed to a trust for personal reasons specific to my circumstances). I don’t think people understand how vulnerable they are to a random event happening in life, a jury not believing the truth and a civil judgement that ruins you. I got a mortifying sense of just that when I was involved in an accident where the other guy died who was “at fault” but only because there were enough people around to verify the truth.”  — ThrowawayForThis443

17. I collided with a drunk driver

“A woman ran a red light going 70mph and t-boned me. Her engine broke the mounts, went through the firewall, and cut her legs off. I know it was not my fault, objectively. She was intoxicated and doing nearly double the speed limit through a red light at a busy intersection. She hit me. She caused massive physical trauma that I will cope with for the rest of my life, and died long before I ever regained consciousness. I don’t remember the accident, but I saw the traffic camera video once. It was in 2012. I have a lot of nightmares about it, and I tell my therapist about them. I didn’t directly kill her, but I still feel responsible somehow.” — davebfoto

18. I shot a burglar

“I was 23 at the time living alone in a new city. Someone broke into my apartment so I went into the bedroom quietly from the bathroom & grabbed my Mosin (only gun I had). My phone was in the living room so i just sat quietly and hoped they would leave.

Well they didn’t. The person opened the bedroom door, they had a large sack and a knife, likely just a burglar. I warned them to leave, but they didn’t. I warned them again and they entered the room. I warned them a third time and they said “The only reason someone with a gun warns someone else instead of shooting, is they have no bullets.”

They were wrong. I put a round into the right torso. A 7.62×54 round to the upper torso from 10ft away is not really something you’re going to survive. But it isn’t like the movies or games. You don’t die instantly. There’s the writhing, the twitching, the gurgling (lungs punctured), the bleeding, the hands grabbing at the wound, it takes a few minutes before it all stops, then it’s just stillness. I guess maybe if it had been the left (heart) they would have died faster. Instead I was told they died of blood loss, and shock, chocking on their own blood. They were dead before the cops or ambulance showed up.

I faced no charges, I was in a ‘No duty to retreat’ state and they had warrants out for the persons arrest on multiple armed robbery charges.

It doesn’t haunt me, I don’t care. They wanted to hurt me and my property, they died for it. One less scumbag is one less scumbag. Now my house has clear “No duty to retreat, there is nothing in here worth dying over.” stickers on the corner of every window. Because if it ever happens again, I’m not giving warnings.” — Cmrade_Dorian

19. I euthanized my wounded friend in combat

“Was a medic in Afghanistan, one of my friends was injured on a patrol. He ended up losing everything below his bellybutton. I packed all his wounds the best I could. I knew he wouldn’t last long and then he starts begging for me to kill him. We were 8 months into our deployment and by then we had already talked contingency plans and I promised him I would. I gave him a lot of ketamine, like a lot. He passed away high as a kite, just like he wanted.

At his funeral I cried my eyes out, maybe he could have lived but I’ll never know. That was 4 years ago, I’ve dealt with depression, anxiety, nightnares, and have tried to commit suicide 4 times since. I miss him a lot and his mom is so nice, I live 30 minutes from her and try to visit twice a month, she calls me doc.”  — [deleted]

20. I cut him with a knife

“I was walking to 7/11 in the middle of the day on a weekday and took a shortcut across an empty lot in Austin, TX. A guy jumped out from behind some vegetation and I saw him out of the corner of my eye as he was mid jump. He tackled me and was on top of me and hit me a few times and I pulled out my knife and cut from about his chin to his ear. He never said anything. Never asked for anything, just jumped on top of me and started hitting. He ran off and bled too much before he made it to the hospital.” — TavorWhore

21. I caused him to hit his head

“Happened when I was 16. I was part of a church retreat, and some of the kids my age were all playing dodgeball together. I was the last member on my team left on my field, and my friend was the last on his side. I was really good at dodging but I throw like a sissy unfortunately; but my friend was overall very athletic and in dodgeball he was often referred to as ‘face killer’ for obvious reasons. He took aim and threw the ball as hard as he could and I ran my hardest to dodge and all of a sudden I trip over something and go flying across the field. After trying to figure out what happened all I heard was just a really loud crying. I looked back to where I was and there was a 6 year old kid who had happen to wonder onto the field while I wasn’t looking and decided to take a seat on the floor. When I tripped over him he had hit his head really hard on the hardwood. He didnt stop crying so he was taken to the hospital, our chaperones told us not to worry and that things will be okay. My friend joked that I had killed him. Apparently the kid happened to have had a physical defect on the side of his head where the viens normally are it was all thinner than normal and in a tangled mess and from the impact it ruptured the viens and the doctors weren’t able to stop the bleeding in his head. 3 days later the child had passed away. I blamed myself for being the cause of his death for a long time. Knowing I had innocent blood on my hands were one of the biggest contributors for my depression, but I never told anyone how I felt cause no one ever came to blame me, not even the boy’s family.” — Ctrl_Shift_ZZ

22. She jumped in front of my truck

“Had a woman WALK in front of my truck as I was driving. Later found out her intent was committing suicide. She got her wish. But i was left with earth shattering PTSD… changed my whole life.” — Relax-lets-dab-710

23. He died after I beat the crap out of him

“I used to work as a corrections officer at a county jail. Anyway, about 2 years ago one of our diabetic inmates had a blood sugar of about 400+ so I was the one who transported him to the ER. So we’re just sitting there talking in the hospital and I hear screaming and crashes in the room next to ours. I go to the door and there are probably 15 nurses standing outside the door of the next room over looking in. I ask them what’s going on and they say there is a man here fighting security staff. I ask them if they need help and someone says yes so I instruct one of them to stay with my inmate and I enter the room. There is a huge man there, maybe 350 pounds, thrashing and screaming and he is fighting 4 security guards on the ground who are trying to restrain him. I jump in, basically take a full mount on his hips, pinning his back to the floor and put him in a front facing headlock with a security guard on each limb. At this point he had defecated all over himself and there was quite a bit of blood. Anyway I’m looking in his face and his eyes are completely wild, when they just roll back in his head and he goes completely limp. We restrain him and lift him onto the table so the nurses can get started and I go back to my inmate. About 30 minutes later the security informs me that he had died of a PCP overdose and took all my info down. I get investigated for police brutality but no charges filed. Left that job about 4 months ago.” — Throwaway13579024680

24. I turned up his morphine

“Generally the doctor writes the order to titrate morphine ‘for air hunger.’ Discontinues any medication and writes for ‘comfort measures only.’ Then I just keep giving morphine until they don’t crave air anymore. I guess this isn’t what was asked, but nurses have to kill people all the time. Some I feel good about, some feel fucking horrible. 22 yo with cancer, 48 year old with ideopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Some just stay with you for the rest of your life. I remember one man in particular who said he just wanted to die at home. When he said this I almost started crying in front of him because I knew he was so much oxygen that he would have died just trying to get him to an ambulance to go home. I kept him alive until his last son made it to the hospital, best I could do. We shook each other’s hand, said it was an honor and a privilege to know each other. He said his goodbyes to his family. I removed his oxygen and turned up the morphine. I don’t normally cry, and if I do I don’t do it in front of the patient or their family. Then we only have a couple minutes to be heartbroken, because we have to get back to work.” — Zebrog

25. My child was dying

“My 9 month son was dying of brain cancer and I asked his doctor to take him off life support. I felt guilty, but I believe it was the right thing to do.” — 550_Cord