History Main / DistractedFromDeath

* In ''Film/NavySeals'', [[Creator/CharlieSheen Hawkins]] disobeys his superior's orders to stay quiet and assaults a group of Middle Eastern militiamen with Graham. After spraying them with his submachinegun, he cheers and turns around... to see Graham dead from the return fire.

This is a DeathTrope, so beware of spoilers.

->'''Heather:''' Don't see me, Connor... let me die in peace... where are we?
->'''Connor:''' We're in the Highlands. Where else? Darting down the mountainside, the sun is shining. It's not cold. You've got your sheepskins on... ''[looks down and realizes Heather is dead]'' [[TearJerker and the boots I made for you...]]

[[folder:Comics]]
* In ''The Kindly Ones'' (the 9th volume of ''ComicBook/TheSandman'') Rose Walker has spent quite some time taking care of and frequently visiting her friend Zelda, an AIDS patient very close to death. When Zelda passes along a message with apparently supernatural origins that Rose should go to England, Rose leaves for about a long weekend or so, and comes back to find herself taking care of Zelda's funeral arrangements instead of hospital care.

[[folder:Fanfic]]

[[folder:Film]]

** In [[Film/LittleWomen2019 the 2019 version]], Jo is asleep when Beth dies. The 1998 {{opera}} by Mark Adamo also stages her death this way.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

[[folder: Web Comics]]

* Some dying people, not wanting their loved ones to have to watch them die, have actually been able to marshal enough HeroicResolve to hang on until the person is no longer in the room, sometimes leading to guilt about not having been there.

* Sadly, among [=EMTs=] and other medical personnel it's well known that children, being generally healthy, can initially compensate well for shock before they crash on you and fall into profound and irreversible shock and death without presenting the warning signs such as gradually worsening blood pressure that an adult would. This is one of many reasons any call involving a kid will prompt an OhCrap from all the medical personnel involved and they will be even more on their toes than usual.

* In the first episode of the anime version of ''Manga/VinlandSaga'', Leif Erickson tells Thorfinn a story from when Leif was a young sailor, and his ship was caught in an ice floe and eventually crushed. He and his crew had no choice but to try to walk across the ice of the frozen Northern Atlantic to try to make it to Greenland. Finally, after days of singleminded walking and pressing one without food or hope, Leif looked around one day and realized [[SoleSurvivor he was the only one left]].

* St. Jacinta Marto, one of the Fatima visionaries, often said during her IllGirl tenure that she would end up DyingAlone. Her doctors, nurse and chaplain promised to stay by her side instead, but poor Jacinta passed away during the night when nobody was there. For worse, the girl had asked for the Communion and Last Rites that same day, [[LikeYouWouldReallyDoIt but the chaplain didn't take her seriously]] and told her he'd come tomorrow...

** In the 1994 movie, Jo is distracted from Beth's deathbed by the wind opening some shutters. Jo walks over to close them, then turns back to discover that Beth has died. Obvious symbolism that Beth's soul has left with the wind.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Drowtales}}'' Shala gets her throat cut by [[AxCrazy Kalki]] but manages to put enough pressure on it to keep from bleeding out and is carried out to their escape vehicle by her brother and boyfriend, who don't notice that she's [[http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?sid=10346 stopped breathing]] until they set her down some several minutes later.

* Mentioned in one of the ''Literature/TeenageWorrier'' books, when Letty brings up how to cope with the death of a friend, as seen by the page quote.

->''"So you wait by her bedside day and night, thinking if you can stay with her all the time and never ever leave to sleep or eat she'll magically get better. And she dies while you are having a wee."''
-->-- '''Letty''', ''Literature/TeenageWorrier'' series

We all know that in fiction DeathIsDramatic. That's why a character who is about to die tends to get a FinalSpeech, FamousLastWords, or even a DyingMomentOfAwesome.

* In ''Film/TheNinthConfiguration'', Colonel Cane slit his wrists (concealing the injury under his coat) and is slowly dying of blood loss as he speaks to Captain Cutshaw, who thinks that Cane is just exhausted and in a state of shock after having killed members of a biker gang with his bare hands. Cutshaw only realizes what happens some time later when he notices a drop of blood on his shoe.

* In Series/TokumeiSentaiGobusters, Jin sacrifices his data in order to allow the final villain Enter to be destroyed. While there is a TearJerker moment when his data is ruined, he manages to find the HeroicResolve to stay on long enough to join the rest of the Busters for the final battle. Once Enter is defeated, the Busters run out of energy and de-morph. In a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment, Jin's avatar dissolves as the other Busters fall to the ground.

* Similar to the above, in the ''ComicBook/XWingSeries'' Wraith Squadron books, [[spoiler: Garik "Face" Loran]] is speaking to [[spoiler: his best friend, Ton Phanan]], but is looking up at the stars. Both of them know that [[spoiler: Phanan]] is badly wounded and dying, and when [[spoiler: Face]] finishes speaking and looks back [[spoiler: Phanan has [[DiesWideOpen quietly died]].]]

* In the Wei storyline of ''VideoGame/DynastyWarrios 7'', Cao Cao is on his death bed reading the reports about the upcoming battle on Wu and Shu over Jing Province. His cousin, Xiahou Dun, is with him, telling him to take a rest. While Cao Cao thanks him for his efforts and apologizes to the two officers who died for him, Xiahou Dun is kneeling on the floor picking up the scrolls. But when he saw the scroll roll on his side, Xiahou Dun stands up, turns around and sees Cao Cao dead.

* In the 1994 ''Film/LittleWomen'' movie Jo is distracted from Beth's deathbed by the wind opening some shutters. Jo walks over to close them, then turns back to discover that Beth has died. Obvious symbolism that Beth's soul has left with the wind.