IndyCar drivers talk organ donation

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Pediatric patients at Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital got a visit Thursday from IndyCar driver Stefan Wilson.

Wilson met with patients, shaking hand and taking pictures. He also handed over a $1,500 check that will go to the organ transplant fund.

It was made possible by the Racing for Kids program, which has raised more than $6.5 million for children’s hospitals worldwide.

“The fun we have on track, it’s easy to get wrapped up in that, but it’s the stuff outside the track that makes it really special,” Wilson said.

Wilson got involved with the Racing for Kids program after his brother, Justin Wilson, was killed in a race in 2015.

IndyCar driver Pippa Mann also spread the word about organ donation on Thursday, as she got behind the wheel of a much different vehicle, steering the back of a Carmel Fire ladder truck.

“You’re doing good, you really are. I don’t feel like I’m doing that good. You are, you’re doing well,” Pippa Mann said.

Mann said the hardest thing for her was trying to get the truck driving straight, since the bar is on the bottom of the wheels. It’s on the top of the wheels in IndyCar.

Mann is the spokesperson for Donate Life Indiana; the group is the main sponsor of her Indianapolis 500 entry.