Something to Talk About  

May 23, 2021:

Jennifer Banks Wilson is a walking, talking billboard.

“It’s one of the best ways I can bring up a conversation about organ donation,” said Wilson, whose 8-year-old daughter, Holly Bunting, died in a car accident. She donated Holly’s organs and saved four lives.

Since then Wilson has transformed her body into a vibrant living memorial to honor her daughter and her gifts. She dyed her hair blue and green, the colors of Donate Life. She also covered her left shoulder and arm with cheerful, childlike tattoos.

“I just went for it,” Wilson said. “All I was thinking about was being able to help another mother not feel like I was feeling.”

Wilson’s life hurled into chaos the day her daughter passed away in front of her childhood home. Privately she grieved Holly’s passing. Publicly she wanted to draw attention to her brief life well-lived. Holly was always smiling. Her days were filled with color. She loved to dance and paint, and hoped to be famous someday.

Wilson’s bold-tinted locks were meant to reflect Holly’s zest for life. She knew she was on to something more when strangers stopped her on the street to ask what’s up with the hair.

“When people asked me about my hair, I’d bring it back to organ donation,” said Wilson, who wondered what else she could do to draw attention. Why not give them something to talk about?

Over time Wilson added four tattoos inspired by her daughter’s first-grade artwork. Sunflowers. An armadillo. Cardinals. Cherry blossoms. Each design represents a life Holly saved through organ donation. Wilson also had Holly’s signature tattooed on her left wrist.

“Most people are like, your green hair and tattoos are awesome,” she said. “Right now my hair is faded beautifully, no blue, a really light green.”

Wilson, who’s been featured on television and in articles, welcomes the positive attention she receives and ignores any detractors. Losing a child has a way of putting little things in perspective.

“Hair is just hair,” she said.

One more tattoo and Wilson’s sleeve will be complete, though it is not easy to predict when or if it may happen.

“When I meet the little boy who got Holly’s heart, I want to have it tattooed on my arm,” she said. “He was four at the time.”