Jake Humphrey reminded of death daily with tattoo
Jake Humphrey has a tattoo that gives him a daily reminder of death.
Jake Humphrey has "remember death" tattooed on his wrist.
The 47-year-old broadcaster says the inking - written in Latin, 'memento mori' - fuels him to focus on what is essential in life because, like anyone, he could die at any moment.
Jake said in a video shared to Instagram on Thursday (26.02.26): "I want to share with you two words that as soon as I heard them, it entirely changed my relationship with life. So much so that there it is, tattooed on my wrist.
"The two words are 'memento mori', which translates as 'remember death'. And you might think that to have 'remember death' tattooed on my wrist is the first thing I see every morning, is the most negative thing in the world.
"You know what? It's the most positive, most optimistic thing in the world because when you get to my age, when you get into your mid to late 40s, you no longer get invited to 21st birthday parties and to christenings.
"You start getting invited to funerals, or you start having conversations with a friend who's had a bad health diagnosis, or you meet up with some of your mates, and they look seriously out of shape, and you start to realise that time is ticking fast.
"We get four thousand weeks on this Earth, and if you can develop an intimacy with your mortality, it just frees you from all of the tiny minuscule bits of s*** that actually grind you down in this life, and you realise that we're not here for very long."
The star - best known for fronting BBC Sport’s coverage of Formula One - encouraged his followers to live life meaningfully and to make their mark on Earth because people are quickly forgotten.
Jake continued: "I've said this to you before, in a hundred years, people won't even remember that you were here.
"There might be one dusty photo of you on someone's side cabinet, your name may well get mentioned once a year if you're lucky. Most people don't even know the names of their great-grandparents. That is how quickly we are forgotten in this life."
And the BT Sport presenter stressed the importance of doing things now before it is too late.
Jake concluded: "So 'memento mori', 'remember death'. Let that free you today, go and make decisions, go and make mistakes, go and take risks, go and be brave enough just to speak to that person, go and do the thing you always put off.
"Make a list of the stuff that you are going to do, not before you die, but you're going to do it now, because death can happen to us at any moment.
"Tomorrow is not a given. So, 'memento mori'."
