besides, the way death works in most fantasy settings is completely unrealistic. the great healer can cast a spell on someone who is on the floor with a broken scull, missing an arm, has a pierced lung, his legs broken in several places and is bleeding out and if that person is still breathing and has a heartbeat, even if the heart is a few seconds away from stopping, the spell will heal him to a point that its like he was never hurt at all. but if he casts the spell even a single second after the heart stopped beating the spell can't do anything despite the body being technically still alive and able to automatically regain full function (when the heart stops, the brain tries to jump start it) if the damage were to disappear.