April is Donate Life Month and Mercy Health-St. Rita’s and the Ohio State Comprehensive Transplant Center are teaming up to provide a visual reminder of the impact an organ donor can have with a pinwheel garden.
The pinwheels each have eight spokes and one stem to represent the eight organ donations that one person can make. The choice to be a donor can make a world of difference to someone else’s life
“I didn’t make the decision lightly. I thought that it was a really great opportunity to essentially save someone’s life, give them the opportunity to spend more time with their loved ones, have another Christmas, spend another time on a summer vacation,” says Trevor Osting, Bone Marrow Donor and Nurse at Mercy Health-St. Rita's. “So it was a big decision, but it was something that made sense for me.”
“Our recipients are so thankful for their donor families and those that have helped them relieve their pain or relieve and live a better life,” says Heidi Erb, Senior Outreach Coordinator for the OSU Comprehensive Transplant Center. “The pinwheels behind us represent that one donor could help eight solid organs be transplanted. In Columbus for Donate Life Month, we planted 11,500 pinwheels in our front garden a week ago Sunday to represent all of the transplants that we have done at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.”
You can help others by signing up to be an organ donor through the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicle website or the Lifeline of Ohio website.
