USA TODAY International Edition
Keeping his legacy alive
Justin Wilson helped others as an organ donor, and brother Stefan is carrying that on as a spokesman for the cause,
Justin Wilson lives on through five people. His family doesn’t know who they are or where they are or what their conditions are, but knowing his life might have saved or helped others is everything to them. Giving selflessly is what and who he was, and his final gesture proved it.
Wilson was a registered organ donor. After Wilson was declared brain dead after suffering a traumatic head injury when he was struck by a piece from another car during a race in August at Pocono Raceway, plans were underway to preserve and transfer five of his organs to patients on waiting lists.
Wilson’s wife, Julia, knew he was an organ donor. Wilson’s younger brother, Stefan, didn’t.
“When I think back to that day, there’s so much heartache, but that is the one positive,” Stefan Wilson told USA TODAY Sports. “I thought, ‘ Wow, Justin was able to have such an impact.’ He’d already had this amazing racing career and amazing life and amazing family. It just made me so proud of what he was able to do. It really encapsulated who he was as a person. He was always so thoughtful about others and considerate of others. He was just a great guy.”
Stefan Wilson wasn’t an organ donor when his brother died, but he is now. He’s also a spokesman in the drive to register people as organ donors. In the 26- year- old’s first Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, his No. 25 KV Racing Technology Chevrolet will start 30th and carry the logo of Indiana Donor Network, which helps coordinate and promote organ, eye and tissue donation in the state.
“This carries on Justin’s legacy,” Wilson said. “When you think that there are five people walking around today because of what Justin decided to do, it’s remarkable. In the weeks and months following the accident, so many people reached out to me and told me that they became an organ donor because of what Justin did. Or they told me that they have loved ones who are here because ( of ) someone else’s gift of life. It hit me that this could go way beyond five lives.”
‘ IT TOUCHES THE HEART A LOT’
It could go far beyond 2,500 lives. That’s the goal of Driven2savelives.org, Indiana Donor Network’s sign- up campaign, which hopes to add 2,500 donors between now and the end of Sunday’s race. Registering takes 30 seconds, and more than 120,000 people in the USA are awaiting organ transplants that could save their lives.
“The more time I’ve had to think about it, the more amazing I find it,” said Julia Wilson, who arrived in Indianapolis last week and plans to stay through Sunday’s race. “To know that Justin has made five people’s lives a great deal different — they can get up in the morning and walk about and kiss their loved ones — it touches the heart a lot.”
After the Aug. 23 accident, in which a nose cone from a crashing car bounced high in the air and landed on Wilson’s helmet, he was taken to Lehigh Valley Health Network Cedar Crest in Allentown, Pa. The prognosis was dire. The next day, he was pronounced dead.
When the topic of organ donation was raised, Stefan Wilson was shocked. It clearly meant there was no hope, and Stefan was clinging to what little hope remained.
“It was pretty emotional,” Wilson said. “It helped that Julia was aware that he was an organ donor. They’d had a conversation about it. If no one had had an idea that he was an organ donor, it would’ve been more difficult. The fact that Julia knew made it much more easy to know. It was Justin’s decision and Justin’s will. That was what he wanted to do.”
Justin made the decision as a teenager in Sheffield, England, when he checked a box on an application for his first driver’s license. Organ donation is far more common in England than in the USA, where surveys have shown 90% of people support organ donation but only 50% are donors.
“It’s made me more aware, but it came more naturally to me,” said Julia, who also became an organ donor with her first driver’s license.
“To hear other people’s stories, you realize they just aren’t aware of it. If Stefan can get that story out there and get some more people to register, that would be amazing for me to know that it’s continuing on and everyone can do their bit. It’s lovely.”
FOLLOWING BROTHER’S CUE
Stefan also was deeply moved by Justin’s choice. Stefan hadn’t considered organ donation but fully embraced it after he saw what his brother’s decision meant to others.
“As a racing driver, you never want to think about your own death. It’s the same for a lot of people,” Stefan said. “It’s funny when you speak to people and they say, ‘ I’m not sure about ( organ donation).’ Having gone through what I’ve gone through, it seems like an easy decision. Being an organ donor doesn’t change anything. You don’t need to hold on to them any longer. But it’s an awkward topic. People don’t want to talk about or think about the possibility of their own death. I never really gave it much thought before, but afterward? Yeah, I became an organ donor.”
As Wilson’s family was grieving in the hospital, a health care worker found Justin’s driver’s license. Within hours, five strangers were being prepped to receive organs for transplant.
It was a youthful choice about which Justin Wilson would have been proud.
“Of course he would,” Julia said, smiling. “He’s a real proud guy. Justin was all about people, all about fans. He was very giving. He just continued that on.
“Justin would be proud to know that he’s continuing on. He’s still doing something to help his fans and IndyCar and his brother.”