Gil de Ferran's daughter: Indy 500 champ may have saved his son's life before heart attack

Gil de Ferran, the 2003 Indianapolis 500 winner who died Dec. 29 of a heart attack while at a private motorsport club in Florida, may have saved his son's life, according to his daughter.

On Wednesday, Anna de Ferran released a statement on Instagram thanking everyone for the "outpour of love" the family has received since her father's death.

"While my father left us too young, he died the way we believe he would have wanted - driving a racecar with my brother at his side," Anna said. "He left us without pain with his last act being to place his foot on the brake so my brother was able to come home safely with us that evening. That story in itself is testament to the level of thought, care, selflessness and love he put into everything he did."

A legend gone too soon:Gil de Ferran, the 2003 Indianapolis 500 champion, has died at 56

Fellow Brazilian driver Tony Kanaan told IndyStar a similar story of what he heard of the situation. According to Kanaan, de Ferran was in the driver’s seat of a high-powered road car and his son, Luke, was in the passenger seat. At some point, the elder de Ferran told his son he wasn’t feeling well and pulled over.

“And I guess he had a heart attack, passed out," Kanaan said, "and they tried to revive him.”

Anna said her dad was "larger than life."

"My Dad was a very deep and pensive man and unafraid to discuss death. He wanted everyone to continue their lives with curiosity, determination and grace," Anna said. "So that's what we will do. We will continue to laugh, we will continue to love, we will continue to ask questions, we will continue to come up with new and exciting ideas, we will continue to chase our dreams and we will continue to live life to the fullest just as he did.

"My Dad was larger than life and I suppose he grew a little too large for this life but the light he shone on this world will shine forever."