[An elderly couple dies of natural causes on the same day].

BACKGROUND: A 77-year-old woman died of metastatic colorectal cancer. On that same day, her 82-year-old husband, who had stayed in bed next to her during the last days of her life, also died.

CASE DESCRIPTION: We describe their two separate trajectories to death: anticipated dying and unexpected death with diagnostic uncertainty. We analysed the general practitioner's role in this scenario. Existential suffering was partly the reason for commencing palliative sedation for the husband after his wife had died.

CONCLUSION: General practitioners might find it difficult to change their course in care management for terminal patients from "life preserving" to "letting go". An effective handover between physicians is essential in the palliative phase. No evidence was found in literature for the hypothesis that dying people can influence their own time of death.