Dressed As Iron Man, Motor Corey Spreads Kindness Around Pasadena

Most Marvel fans and comic book readers know Iron Man as tech mogul Tony Stark, but in Pasadena, a different man is donning the red helmet in his crusade to help others.

Corey Adams has been dressing as the superhero while doling out random acts of kindness for the last four months. The idea was sparked after he received nurturing care from Anne Arundel County nurses and emergency medical technicians following a motorcycle accident in August 2018.

Adams was on Fort Smallwood Road, near Fifer’s Seafood, when a girl pulled out of a neighborhood street in front of him.

“I had a broken femur, a broken thumb and a rod put in my leg, but I was super lucky,” Adams said. “A week after the surgery, I was walking a mile. It took a few months to get back to normal.”

Wanting to give back, the 25-year-old Chesapeake High School graduate decided to dress as a superhero and do go deeds. “Iron Man has a helmet, so I went with that,” said Adams, who recently added the Infinity Gauntlet to his wardrobe. “My brother had a suit that was skin-tight. This one is more bulky.”

He hopped on his Kawasaki Ninja 1000, attached a GoPro Hero 4 video camera, and began spreading kindness around Pasadena. His first act was to help a stranded motorist push her car. Subsequent videos featured Adams surprising kids as Iron Man, handing flowers to moms on Mother’s Day, buying cookies for customers at Chick-fil-A, visiting the graves of soldiers on Memorial Day, giving gifts to school crossing guards, and presenting gift cards to firefighters and EMTs, including some who were on the scene of his rescue in 2018.

Captain David Price was one of those first responders, and he said Adams was able to catch several of them in the same location by coincidence as members from the Orchard Beach Volunteer Fire Department and Armiger Fire Station were gathered for a meeting.

“For us, we take care of the call and we don’t always know the outcome,” Price said. “It was fulfilling. It gives us a bit of closure to know that we really helped him.”

All of the videos are posted on his “Motor Corey” YouTube channel. He started with one act of kindness every Monday, but he’s now trying to do two acts per week.

“I have tons of ideas,” he said. “I eventually want to get a lot of people thinking about others and not just themselves.”

On August 12, he filmed a video while feeding stray cats at Rise Above Animal Rescue and Sanctuary. The nonprofit’s president, Kaitlin Neal, said Adams’ visit had a profound impact on the feral “community cats,” which were part of a TNR (trap, neuter, return) program that combats the feral cat populations humanely while providing the cats with much-needed veterinary care.

“Corey not only brought us donations of supplies and food for the cats, but he also built us a new feeding station and an insulated cat house for one of the many colonies we care for,” Neal said. “His work will help these cats live a much more comfortable life!”

Brainstorming ideas has not been tough for Adams, who aspires to get more people involved in similar acts of kindness, but he has faced other challenges.

“It gets hot, but I love doing it, so I don’t mind,” Adams said.

For now, the superhero will continue serving the people.

“You know what? I can’t stop now,” he said with a laugh. “I have a whole bunch of kids who look up to me, and the smiles have intensified.”

Follow “Motor Corey” on YouTube or visit Adams’ fundraising link at www.gofundme.com/f/motorcorey.