There have been some cases of people who had moments of lucidity before dying (to the point their families think wrongly they've recovered). It's not yet acknowledged as a real phenomenon, but it's happened to some people with mental illnesses. There is a small chance that, before dying, Ashley had a moment like that. It's sad that she finally might have realized that she caused this to herself and there was nothing she could do to stop it.
It's a well known phenomenon in medicine. It's called a few different things, the most common is "The Rally". In the hospital, whenever anyone that is dying suddenly seems better, but their vitals are all still shit, we know it is happening. The common belief is that it occurs because humans, when their body is absolutely certain it is going to expire, unlocks access to that last 10% of reserve in our systems. Humans can only consciously access ~80% of their ultimate capabilities at any given moment. We can get access to an additional ~10% during acute life or death situations, and in these situations people are capable of feats that seem impossible, such as how that grandmother was able to lift that car off of her grandkid, etc... But, we pay a price for accessing that additional 10%. Typically people that access that extra 10% experience some form of substantial damage because it is intended for only the most dire of circumstances. We also can't access it at a conscious level, conditional access is allowed through some type of subconscious mechanism.
The Rally is quite similar to that ~10% we can access in life or death situations. Except it can only be accessed once and then it is depleted. You can think of it as the "final 10%". Since it is a one time use situation, it is only accessed by the subconscious when it has no doubt the person is dying, they have gone past the point of no return. As for why it happens, most people I know think of it as a way for people to be able to use the very small amount of time they have left without being encumbered by their deteriorating, chronic condition.
It happened to my grandfather. He was terminal, it was only a matter of time, we went to see him and he seemed better than he had been in quite some time. Of course, as soon as I saw it, I knew what was going on, but I didn't let on since everyone else was having such a good time with him being in higher spirits. Later I told my mother to expect that he will pass on within the next 2 weeks or less. She was quite shocked, she said he looked so much better. So, I explained the concept of The Rally to her and that I am glad that everyone had a good day, because it was probably one of the very last. 7 days later my mother got a call from the nursing home. he had passed away.
I've seen it too many times to not believe it is a real phenomenon, despite the lack of scientific data on it. I can guarantee that most other Kiwi's in healthcare have seen it more than once.
