Woman, 81, gets 'Do Not Resuscitate' tattoo on chest

Joy Tomkins has had the tattoo since the start of 2011 An 81-year-old woman from Norfolk has had "Do Not Resuscitate" tattooed across her chest in case she falls ill and attempts are made to revive her.

Joy Tomkins had the message tattooed, along with "P.T.O." and an arrow on her back, earlier this year.

The former magazine company secretary said she could not bear to "make beds and wash-up for another 20 years".

Despite having a living will for about 30 years, she said the tattoo meant there was be "no excuse" for error.

"The tattoo is immediate... no excuse for not knowing what I thought," she said.

The grandmother, who is diabetic but said she was not seriously ill, said she got the idea from a retired nurse, who did something similar in 2003.

She said her willingness to not be resuscitated would "save money" for the NHS.

Mrs Tomkins, who went to a tattoo parlour to get her message done, said she was happy with life but stated she would be "just as happy" not to wake up in the morning.

She added she was determined to have the final say if she falls seriously ill.

'Much better dead'

"If I'm found lying about and can't say something,

GP 'will help poorly woman die'

Dr Michael Irwin has helped four other people attend the clinic A former GP has said he will help a woman from Eastbourne travel to Switzerland to end her life even though she is not terminally ill.

Dr Michael Irwin, from Cranleigh, in Surrey, said he would help the 91-year-old who suffers from severe arthritis to travel to the Dignitas facility.

He has refused to name the woman and said he had helped four other people travel to Switzerland.

A spokeswoman for Sussex Police said officers would contact Dr Irwin.

He said: "When you're in your late 80s or early 90s and you've got all kinds of medical problems and your quality of life has changed so much... why should you be forced to continue in that existence?

"I have spoken to this lady on several occasions on the telephone. I've never actually met her. It's her decision and I don't want to be any closer to identifying her.

"It's her right to be anonymous."

'Doctor's responsibility'

Mr Irwin, who formed pressure group Society for Old Age Rational Suicide in 2009, said he had no moral objections to assisted suicide.

He was arrested for taking Raymond Cutkelvin, of London, to die at the facility, but in June 2011 Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer decided not to prosecute saying it would not be in the public interest.

Assisting a suicide remains a criminal offence in England and Wales, punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

Dr Irwin added: "I'm a retired GP and I have felt that a doctor's main responsibility is to help the patient in the best possible way."

A spokeswoman for Sussex Police said: "We will be getting in touch with Dr Irwin in relation to the report that he may be taking a woman abroad to be helped to die."

A spokesman for East Sussex County Council said the authority would not comment on individual cases.

He said: "If we thought the law was being broken we would inform the appropriate authorities. We would hope that anyone contemplating such action would talk to the appropriate people before doing anything.

"There could be other ways of resolving this."

Woman Faces Jail Time for Planting Organic Vegetable Garden

By Brad Tuttle
A Michigan woman is being charged with a misdemeanor offense and is facing up to 93 days in jail. Her crime? Planting a vegetable garden-in her own yard. Her front yard, that is.

Like many consumers today, Julie Bass, of Oak Park, Mich., appreciates the taste and healthfulness of organic vegetables, but isn't much of a fan of how much going organic costs at the store. So, like many health-minded consumers, she planted a vegetable garden on her property.

But Bass chose to take the unusual step of installing neatly arranged raised beds of vegetables in her front, rather than back, yard. Bass explained her unorthodox garden location (and showed off how neat and organized it is, for those curious) to a local TV station:

 "We thought it'd be really cool to do it so the neighbors could see. The kids love it. The kids from the neighborhood all come and help," she said.

Front yard or back, it's her property, and she's allowed to do with it what she pleases, right? Wrong, say the local authorities, citing local codes that require front yards to have only "suitable" live plant material. City planners say that vegetables, for some reason, don't qualify for the standard, even though they are certainly alive, and certainly are planted. To some, this sort of code enforcement makes the restrictions against drying clothes on a clothesline seem reasonable.