How Ohio State celebrates organ transplants as ‘Buckeyes for Life’
The annual Buckeye Pinwheel Planting and Transplant Reunion uniquely honors organ donors and transplant recipients.
Their kids had been preschool classmates years ago, and the two would bump into each other occasionally in their hometown of Pickerington, Ohio. As Chou tells it: “I could probably count on one hand how many times I actually had a conversation with Tim.”
But when Chou faced the most difficult health scare of his life, Billingsley made a selfless choice to help him.
Chou, the freshman boys basketball coach at Pickerington Central High School, was 32 in 2012 when he was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). During his treatment at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James), doctors also diagnosed polycystic kidney disease.
The cancer went into remission, but the kidney disease worsened. By the summer of 2025, he had stage 5 chronic kidney disease and needed a transplant.
When word spread that Chou needed a kidney, Billingsley was among the scores of people who began the process to see if they were a match. Billingsley called Chou in November to tell him he would be his kidney donor, and the transplant was performed Dec. 30 at Ohio State.
Chou’s gratitude to his neighbor is immense, and he looks forward to returning to coaching. But he also sees a second happy ending to this story.
At a follow-up appointment, Chou ran into one of his transplant coordinators to ask what had become of the more than 50 other people who had volunteered to donate a kidney to him. Many of them decided to remain on the list to donate, even though Chou’s need had been met.
“Knowing that other people looking for living kidney donors may be saved gives me hope that we can all spread awareness about the need for donors and make a difference,” Chou says.
A symbol of saved lives
Chou shared his story with thousands at the annual Buckeye Pinwheel Planting and Transplant Reunion in April 2026.
The ceremony gathers transplant recipients, living organ donors, donor families, medical teams and volunteers in a ceremony that, for some, marks another year of life made possible by The Ohio State University Comprehensive Transplant Center, organ donors and their families.
Participants planted 13,900 pinwheels, one for each transplant performed at the Ohio State Comprehensive Transplant Center since 1967. Nearly 3,000 people registered to attend this year.
Each pinwheel has one stem with eight spokes, representing the power of one person to save up to eight lives through organ donation and transplantation. The spinning of the pinwheel symbolizes the continual “paying it forward” of organ donation, perpetually driving the circle of life.
In 2008, the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center’s marketing team worked with local organ procurement organization Lifeline of Ohio to create a visual display expressing the magnitude of transplantation and the gratitude for organ donation.
The inaugural pinwheel garden featured 6,500 pinwheels placed with the help of about 30 volunteers. The bright, symbolic visual has stuck — and grown by thousands — even being adopted in 2017 by Donate Life America for its national marketing campaign.
Ohio State is advancing organ transplantation in Ohio and beyond
“Each year, I am profoundly moved by this event and the increasing participation alongside the growth of our garden,” says Todd Pesavento, MD, medical director of the Comprehensive Transplant Center.
“This is one of the largest and most experienced multi-organ transplant centers in the nation for kidney, liver, pancreas, heart and lung transplants,” Dr. Pesavento says.
Dr. Pesavento welcomed the crowd Sunday morning, reminding them of the strides Ohio State continues to make in increasing safety and accessibility of organ donation and transplantation.
Among the recent accomplishments for the transplant program at Ohio State:
- Ranked No. 14 nationally in transplant volume in 2025, with 617 organ transplants
- $17 million in transplant research funding, along with 21 clinical trials to investigate ways to improve transplantation and make procedures safer for recipients
- The new 16th floor at Ohio State University Hospital offers expanded inpatient care for kidney, liver and pancreas recipients, including 52 transplant progressive care rooms and eight transplant intensive care rooms, scalable to 12.
- Also in 2025, Ohio State completed 325 kidney transplants from both deceased and living donors, raising its total to 8,900 — the highest in Ohio. In December 2024, the program also organized one of the largest living kidney donor (LKD) chains in the United States involving 10 donors and 10 recipients.
At this moment, nearly 108,000 people in the United States are waiting for an organ transplant. About 3,000 of those are in Ohio.
“We are deeply grateful to organ donors and their families,” Dr. Pesavento said. “Your generosity and sacrifice have blessed many lives.”
