Corey Phelan, the namesake of the foundation, was a Phillies minor leaguer who signed with the organization out of high school back in 2020 as an undrafted free agent. Phelan was diagnosed with a rare, aggressive form of cancer at age 19. Before his passing, the Long Island, New York native spoke about his battle with cancer with 6 ABC back in 2022, and how his cancer was first detected:
“I was taking a shower and I passed out in the shower. So I called 911 and the ambulance came,” Phelan said. “I got a CAT scan of my chest and they told me I had a 9-inch mass in my chest.”
After a brief battle with cancer, Corey lost his fight, just short of six months after his diagnosis.
— Phillies Player Development (@PhilsPlayerDev) October 14, 2022
Phillies Family
Prior to Sunday’s game, all of the Phillies players and staff were wearing shirts that referenced the organization during warmups.
I had the honor of speaking with Corey’s parents – Chris and Christie – before Sunday’s game about what the Phillies organization embracing them and their son’s message and legacy means to them.
“It’s tremendous because when he was first diagnosed with cancer, we didn’t even know what was gonna happen with the Phillies. You know, you kind of think like maybe they release him… he’s not able to perform on the field right now and they don’t have a need for him and it was the total opposite from day one,” Corey’s father, Chris, told me.
“It’ll be two years this October and for them to still know who we are when we come to the field and still want to know about us and Corey and how we’re doing with the foundation – I mean, as a parent, it’s unbelievable because, you know, we go through this every day, we go through losing Corey every day as a family. A lot of times when other people think about it, it’s so far, it’s so long ago, they don’t remember it. So for them to still do this, it’s something that we’re very moved by and touched.”
The Phillies have clearly embraced Corey and his family’s foundation. His mother, Christie, added “When they say it’s a Phillies family, they mean it. It really is a family. They’ve been very good to us and [have] been like family to us.”
Corey Phelan's goal was always to give back to people.
After his courageous battle with cancer, his family started Corey's Promise to help families and raise awareness for childhood cancer. 💛
Phillies manager Rob Thomson was a part of the organization during Corey’s tenure with the team. I asked him about Corey prior to Sunday’s game:
“Corey was very special to the Phillies and to this ball club, you know, when he was sick and in the hospital he came and visited us in New York a couple of times when we were playing at Citi Field and he was just a great kid and very inspirational person for everyone here.“
Luke Williams, currently with the Atlanta Braves, was Corey’s teammate when they were both a part of the Phillies organization. During pregame batting practice, he wandered over to Corey’s family to say hello despite never having met them before. I asked them what it meant to them for Luke to check in with them:
“Luke is such a wonderful young man and we never met him in person. It was the first time we met him in person. For him to go out of his way to come speak to us, and talk about Corey was incredible. It just shows us who Corey was when he left us.” Christie told me.
Chris added: “to meet the amount of people that he did, and the amount of people that he touched – you know, Luke sent us a personal letter after Corey passed and texted us. Corey sent Luke baseball cards to be signed by everybody in the Braves clubhouse when he was going through it like he did to anybody else he knew in any other major league clubhouse.“
The Phillies gave away wrist bands and a ribbon in honor of Childhood Cancer Awareness Day. Photograph taken by Kyle Fisher.
Corey’s father described him as “a clown” around the house, always happy. As a parent, you are never truly sure if your child is ready to go out on their own and what sort of person they will be once they venture out on their own. Corey’s mother mentioned Luke’s willingness to come over and the way he spoke about their son as a sign of the person he was. Christie told me “the stories we hear from people is very heartwarming to us, it makes us feel good and proud.” Corey’s father expanded on that sentiment:
“When we let him go, when he left us at 18, we were like, ‘oh, is he ready?’ And anybody we speak to that had any kind of dealings with him and anybody that came in contact with him, they all say the same thing – like he was the light in the room. He was so fun to be around and he was someone that they all wanted to know. So it’s wonderful.”
Join us for the Nemours Childhood Cancer Awareness Night pregame ceremony! https://t.co/KOdvOFKFef
A day like today, where everyone comes together to support a cause in such dire need of support, is an emotional day for anyone – especially those directly connected to the causes being highlighted and honored. It’s not easy to stand in front of people on a stage as large as this and be vulnerable. The Phelan family does it not just for themselves, but for those that are still in need of love and emotional and financial support. Christie said, “we love this day.” The message from their point of view is simple, today, to bring pediatric cancer awareness to the forefront:
Before Corey was going through this battle, we really weren’t even aware of what month pediatric cancer was, and we’re both teachers and we deal with children every day.” Chris said. “So the Phillies doing this and wearing the gold armbands and letting us kind of share our message…”
Chris paused, overcome by emotion speaking about his son. Christie jumped in:
“Bringing awareness to pediatric cancer is really special because that’s part of our mission, and we want people to be aware of the journeys and the battles of pediatric cancer, and what these kids go through on a day to day basis – and the families and the siblings. You know, when one child in your family is fighting cancer, the whole family is fighting.”
Chris told me it’s news no parent should have to hear. He hopes with awareness and raising money, being able to help others in need, that one day this will be something no one has to go through.
Corey’s Promise
If you want to help support the Phelan family through Corey’s Promise or learn more about the family’s foundation, you can visit www.coreyspromise.org.
Many players in the Phillies organization have been personally impacted by pediatric cancer, and Corey Phelan lives near and dear in the hearts and memories of people involved in the organization. His memory lives on through days like today, and through the support of the organization, and most importantly – his family.
