Since 1992 people have been inking Death Wishes on their chests as permanent tattoos to prevent medical resuscitation in the event of a life-threatening injury.  This process is called the “DNR Tattoo” or the “Do Not Resuscitate Tattoo” and its effect is a fascinating enlightenment against the values and morality of an advanced culture where we are all taught to value life and to save the heartbeat at all cost.


There are some that prefer not to live a life less than the one they already enjoy. 

Instead of living in a non-communicative, vegetative, state — they prefer dying instead of an immobile living.

In order to communicate their final Death Wish, they tattoo “Do Not Resuscitate” or “DNR” on their chests with the expectation that any medical team will honor their permanent covenant.

Those tattoos are not legally binding, and they would not stop emergency life-saving techniques from being performed in the field or in a hospital, but for long-term sufferers of debilitating, chronic, diseases — these tattoos might have some final standing in the final declaration of an original intent to die with grace in the same way they had lived.

Here’s a gallery of those DNR Death Wishes. 

The art of the ink tells the beauty of the story.

2 Comments

  2. Cool, arin! Why are you so quickly convinced? Or have you been thinking about this for awhile?

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