Visitor brings vroooom to YNHCH

During racecar driver Bryce Cornet’s recent YNHCH visit, patient Angel Carillo got to race against the pro – on the screen anyway – during a game of Mario Kart. 

Patient Walker Parkins, a huge motorsports fan, was thrilled to meet Cornet and receive a toy car and stickers from the driver.

On Aug. 23, professional racecar driver Bryce Cornet stopped by Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital with some swag and smiles for young patients.

Cornet, of Oklahoma, knows what it’s like to deal with medical issues at a young age. At 15 he was diagnosed with Wolf-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome – a congenital heart condition in which an extra electrical pathway causes periods of rapid heart rate. He underwent two successful cardiac ablations, but the time and cost of his care kept him off the racetrack for several years. Cornet returned in 2017, thanks to the love and support of his family and friends. 

His YNHCH visit is part of a partnership with the JoeAbate Charitable Foundation Inc. The foundation, named for a Connecticut man who died from a congenital heart defect, has a Family Resources Fund that supports families in financial need who have a child in the Yale New Haven Children’s Heart Center Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit.