I have wondered at times...
When the head is severed by guillotine, do the eyes still function until the brain dies from lack of oxygen? What about the ears? Is the soon-to-be-deceased still aware of their surroundings for the 2 to 3 minutes that the brain is still alive? Possibly no pain but certainly horrifying.
Briefly. The facts are out there ... on the internet.
Short answer.....yes. Executioners often would pick up the severed head and show them their dying body.
There was a story that during the French Revolution, an experiment was carried out.
The head blinked for a period of time after the execution.
An ancestor of mine was beheaded with an axe by Oliver Cromwell’s government, so I was curious about beheading and researched it years ago. I wondered if the brain continued to function and from reading old accounts of executions believe it does.There are written accounts of lips moving and eyes blinking after the head was severed. It would not be my choice of a way to die.
I’d guess they would!
Falling face down into a basket has GOT to hurt your nose!