Woman, 81, gets 'Do Not Resuscitate' tattoo on chest and PTO on her back

A ‘Right to Die’ grandmother who does not want doctors to save her life if she falls ill has had ”Do Not Resuscitate” tattooed across her chest – and ”PTO” on her back. Joy Tomkins, 81, decided she did not want to be brought back to life in a medical emergency following the slow death of her husband Malcolm. Mother-of-two, Joy, from Downham Market, Norfolk, who is not terminally ill, has now had ”Do Not Resuscitate” tattooed across her chest to ensure that doctors respect her right to die.



Joy has also had ”PTO” and an arrow inked onto her back – so that paramedics will read the words on her chest if she collapses face first. Grandmother-of-six Joy, who suffers from arthritis, Reynard’s disease and diabetes, revealed she does not want to endure a slow, lingering death. She said: ”I do not want to be half dead, I want to be fully dead. It might have been different when I was 51 but I am 81 now.

”Everybody has to die sometime but I do not want to end up as a vegetable. I hoped I would get away at 70 but I’m still happy to be alive now. I am afraid that the medical profession will, with the best of medical intentions I hope, keep me alive when I don’t want to be alive. I dont want to lie for hours, months or even years before dying. I don’t want my family to remember me as a lump.



”My mother-in-law lived to be 106 and in the last six years of her life she’d have been much better dead. She was miserable. I don’t want to upset anyone but this is something I feel strongly about. I won’t change my mind I never do and my children support me in this. That is why I got the tattoo. I have all sorts of things wrong with me but my head is fine. I don’t have a death wish I just don’t want to be kept alive in pain.”