Corey’s story was recently highlighted by NBC. Watch the powerful feature here.
Corey Lee, better known as Pheez, is a hip-hop artist, Navy veteran, father, husband, homeowner, podcast host, and advocate for people with disabilities. But behind that list of accomplishments is a journey marked by hardship, overcoming, and personal transformation.
Born in Hartford and raised in Bloomfield, Corey always had a love for music, writing lyrics since 1995 and recording tracks with friends. After graduating, he joined the Navy in September 2001 to fund college and build a career. But after 9/11, he was deployed overseas, where he discovered inner strengths, honed skills that would later help him navigate traumas, and made lasting friendships.
Then, during a short leave, everything changed in an instant. At 22 years old, Corey dove into the ocean during a day at the beach with friends. He knew the moment he hit the water that something was wrong. He couldn’t move. He had broken his neck and was paralyzed. His friends pulled him from the surf, and Corey woke up three days later in the ICU.
The months that followed were filled with surgeries, hospital transfers, and learning how to operate a motorized wheelchair. Corey had to rebuild everything: his routines, his future, and his identity. And while his body was healing, his mental health took its own hits. “I’ve dealt with depression. Chronic pain. Days when it felt like nothing made sense. People would say, ‘You’re so strong, I couldn’t do what you do,’ but I didn’t have a choice.”
Corey’s recovery, both physical and mental, was partially shaped by his network of friends and family. They rallied around him from the start, supporting his parents, visiting often, and doing what they could to prevent him from feeling alone during that first difficult year. Over time, he found his footing, drawing strength, wisdom, and inspiration from his community and the people he met in the hospital, many of whom were quietly defying the limitations placed on them.
Corey bought his first home at 24, fulfilling one of his lifelong dreams, and when a friend offered to cook for his housewarming party, she brought along someone to help carry the food. That someone would become his wife. “We just had this honest, beautiful conversation. She said, ‘I just want to please the Lord.’ I had been so lonely before that moment. I prayed for someone who would love God as much as I did, and that’s who she was.”
They married in 2009 and now have two sons, Josiah and Elijah. Fatherhood became one of Corey’s greatest joys, and, unfortunately, another place where he feels stigmatized. From strangers speaking to his wife instead of him, to caregivers ignoring his instructions, Corey has faced discrimination in both subtle and overt ways, almost daily. It’s the way people assume he’s not capable of making decisions, the way others speak over him, or default to someone else in the room, as if he’s invisible. He recalls having many caregivers ask his wife, “Does he eat breakfast early or late?” as if Corey couldn’t answer for himself.
Even in parenting, the assumptions persist. When Corey is with his kids, people often step in uninvited. “Someone will see me disciplining my son and say, ‘Listen to your father,’ like I’m not already handling it. Or they’ll ask, ‘Are you okay being home alone with your kids?’ Why wouldn’t I be? I’m their father.”
It’s these everyday moments, small, but cutting, that underscore how disability is often equated with incapacity. These stigmatizing behaviors, Corey explains, aren’t always malicious. Sometimes it comes from a place of wanting to help but lack of awareness. True support starts with respect. “It’s about being human. People with disabilities are fully capable of leading, parenting, building careers, and living independently, but we’re constantly put in situations where we must prove or fight for it.”
Music, once set aside after his injury, came back into his life in a new form and as a way of sharing his experiences. “I had to reimagine it,” he said. “Not flexing or bragging, but sharing how I got here. There are so many disabled people who are homeless or institutionalized. I’m not here to flaunt my life. I want to talk about what it took to build it.”
In 2018, he began releasing music again. Albums like 13th Year and Head Above Water explore his experiences, resilience, and mental health through a raw and reflective lens. Head Above Water is about looking at the glass as half full. 13th Year has a track for every year post-injury.
Today, Corey serves as Peer Mentor Coordinator for More Than Walking, a nonprofit connecting people with spinal cord injuries to community, education, and mentorship. He co-hosts the Super Adaptables podcast and was part of a coalition that helped pass a landmark Connecticut bill regulating wheelchair repair timelines. The bill is the first of its kind in the country.
Throughout everything, community and faith remain Corey’s anchors. “When I was 17, I read The Perfect Storm, and there was this vivid description of drowning that shook me. I remember praying, ‘God, please don’t let me die by drowning.’ I didn’t fully understand faith back then. I wasn’t saved, I wasn’t justified. But years later, when I broke my neck and almost drowned, that prayer came back. And God heard me. That’s when I knew He was real.”
He shares these lessons with his sons, hoping to ground them in a world that often pulls people in every direction. “Scripture doesn’t waiver, even when people do. I want my boys to be strong, grounded, and self-aware. I want them to know that their lives are theirs to shape.”
Despite overcoming insurmountable odds, and experiencing life-changing hardships, Corey broke the cycle. “I should be a statistic, but I’m not,” he said. “Not because I’m special, but because I didn’t give up. And I want others to know they don’t have to either.”
Listen to Pheez’s music on Spotify, Apple Music, and other platforms. Learn more about his work with More Than Walking at morethanwalking.com.
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Let’s Face It
Launched in 2022 by Mental Health Connecticut, Let’s Face It takes place every May in celebration of Mental Health Awareness Month. Throughout the month, we host and participate in events, share daily wellness content and vital resources, and spotlight Connecticut residents with lived experiences, amplifying their voices and journeys to inspire hope and understanding.
Why focus on stigma? Because it’s pervasive, taking on various forms, and we firmly believe that its power diminishes when faced head-on. By sharing these compelling stories and daily wellness content, our aim is to spark more conversations, show the individuality of mental health, and increase awareness. Through Let’s Face It, we hope to help create a safer and kinder Connecticut for all.
Let’s Face It 2025 is presented by ConnectiCare. Learn more at mhconn.org.
