Jan. 20, 2000
Is it possible for people on their death beds to actually hold off the moment of death?
Researchers across the country are curious whether that might explain why so many people apparently waited to die until the new millenium.
Science Specialist Ed Yeates has that story.
Celebrating January 1st may have taken on a different perspective - depending on who you are, or who you were!
The death rate in many states appears to have increased significantly - perhaps indicating many dying people wanted to hold on to their last breath until after the New Year had arrived.
Research psychologists and sociologists say they're not surprised at what's happened over the past two weeks, especially with something as significant as a new millennium, a new century.
Dr. Phil Kuntz, BYU Sociology Professor: "Everybody is talking about the new millennium. What difference would that make?"
Sociologist Dr. Phil Kunz talks about the dying process in his class. He's collected what he considers substantial evidence over the years to support how a dying person will often defy the odds and wait until a significant event or date passes before they pass on.
Dr. Kuntz: "And I found that there was a significant difference in that almost 50 percent of the people die in the three months after a birthday and only eight percent in the three months prior to their birthday, which says that at least for a birthday, those people hung on."
Ask for spontaenous examples in the classroom about deceased grandparents or relatives --
"But she died just after her 99th birthday."
And on anniversaries or dates which may be significant only to that person --
"The barber promised me he would give me a free haircut on my 100th birthday. And he lived until just past his 100th birthday, and died."
Some of Dr. Kuntz's students are just beginning to research the Millennium event in Utah. Some early stats may be significant, especially if you consider the higher number this year - 361 deaths so far - and most of them happened within the first five days of the new year.
Dr. Kuntz says his research focuses on people who might have some control over their deaths, as opposed to people who die in accidents or from violent causes.
