Charismatic. Genuine. Warrior.
Those are just a few of the hundreds of words I could describe Cory Burgess with. Although we didn't see one another more than 2-3 times a year, the ones we did felt like we'd never been apart. His laughter was infectious. He wore his heart on his sleeve. And he loved everyone. If you didn't know any better, you'd never know that he was battling one of the most horrible diseases of this day and age. Cystic Fibrosis.
I was fortunate enough to meet Cory at #ShrinkAllTheCars, a car meet held at FDR Skatepark in Philadelphia, PA in April of 2013. This meet was the grand finale of a fundraiser started by Chad Kreiling, where he literally "shrunk" 1000's of cars in Photoshop for a small donation. This quickly blew up on social media as people were posting their shrunken cars and recruiting others to donate to the cause and receive their own shrunken car. The fundraiser concluded with the #ShrinkAllTheCars Meet, which, to this day, is my absolute favorite car event I have ever attended. It was amazing seeing so many people come together in support of a fellow car enthusiast. When I eventually saw Cory sitting in his car, I introduced myself and started some small talk with him. I was amazed by how positive he was about his condition and life in general, despite how fragile his whole body was at that point. You don't see that trait in a lot of people, and I truly admired it.
Fast forward a few months. Cory's condition worsened, causing one of his lungs to collapse. People flocked to social media sending him good vibes and prayers, and shortly thereafter, we got our wish. They found Cory lungs and he underwent a double lung transplant and was on the road to recovery. He quickly regained his strength and was ready to face whatever challenge life decided to throw at him next.
Later that same year, we happened to run into one another at the MKV meet at H2Oi. He looked like a million bucks. We spent the majority of that meet laughing at stupid jokes, catching up on life and taking photos of his GTI. Nick Lewis, Chad K, and myself all shot photos of it simultaneously. Cory being his goofy self, even took the opportunity to model for us. I'll never forget that day.
Early in 2015, Cory got news that his anti-rejection medicine had given him cancer. To be frank, Cory made cancer his bitch. He underwent his treatment and emerged out on top yet again. Nothing could get Cory down. He was a true warrior that fought everything that came his way. Seeing him in August at Vag Fair, you'd of never guessed that he had even had cancer earlier in the year.
Fast forward again to September of this year. I was at Dubs at the Gap walking Ollie when I noticed Cory pull in and park in the adjacent lot, so I decided to head over and BS. I remembered seeing a few days before that he had been in the hospital with what was suspected to be Pneumonia. He told me that he was probably not staying long because he still didn't feel very good and was actually waiting on a call from Hopkins. About 5 minutes later he got that call, and told us all that he had to head out cause he needed to go check himself into the hospital.
Cory passed away in the early hours of November 10th, 2015.
He instructed everyone to not feel bad whenever he did go, but to instead be happy and have a gigantic party to celebrate his life. Thanks to the efforts of Chad Kreiling, Peter Stuppard, Zach Dawson and numerous others, #ShrinkAllTheCars2, For Cory was born.
Hundreds of cars and thousands of people came out on the cold November morning to celebrate his life and legacy. It's the least that we could all do for someone who was so full of love, despite having so many massive obstacles thrown in his way during his short 27 years on this earth. We will never forget you Cory. You were truly an amazing spirit. Much love brother.
"Breathe Easy"
Photo Courtesy of JA Photographs - https://www.flickr.com/photos/japhotographs/23263599556/in/dateposted/