Spring 2025

140 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • S P R I N G 2 0 2 5 footage, along with Melissa’s incredible bravery to keep fighting. As soon as she was out of the hospital, Melissa married Joey Rodrigues, to the delight of her friends and family. However, getting back in the ocean proved difficult, as Melissa now had to be hooked up to an oxygen tank even while surfing. Local surfboard maker, Bob Pearson of Pearson Arrow, created a special 14-foot surfboard for the couple that could handle the weight of two adults tandem surfing along with an oxygen tank. A meeting with Santa Cruz based O’Neill wet- suits resulted in the company creating a padded wetsuit for Joey with a compartment to hold Melissa’s oxygen tank on his back, protecting him from getting knocked out by the heavy tank, and Melissa’s mission was accomplished. “At this point, Melissa thought the ocean was her medication,” Chris says. “She was deter- mined to find a way to go in the water.” Tragically, Melissa was losing her battle with cystic fibrosis, and her heart was also failing. When she was put on life support in 2018, fam- ily and friends rushed to her hospital bed. Even through immense suffering, Melissa wanted Lee to get her cameras and film. “She couldn’t talk [due to the machines help- ing her breathe], and she made a gesture to me to get my cameras, so I ran to the hospital park- ing lot and got them out of my car,” Lee recalls. “We were all crying, taking turns saying goodbye to her, and when it was my turn, I told her, ‘I’m going to finish your film, I promise you.’ I didn’t realize until I finally watched the footage a year and a half later that she had nodded to acknowl- edge me. It gave me the courage to go on.” The Pappageorgas family, Melissa’s husband Joey, and her many friends provided crucial sup- port for Lee. “This project was made with the help of angels,” Lee insists. “I started by putting every- thing on my own credit cards. I just couldn’t make a mediocre documentary. When Chris and Lori saw that it wasn’t going to be just some small project, they stepped in, and the Living Breath Foundation became a fiscal sponsor.The film goes along with the mission of raising awareness of cystic fibrosis.” From there, miracles continued. Singer and Melissa brought awareness to cystic fibrosis through volunteering with many children fighting the disease, participating in fundraisers and working on her own documentary. Photo: Michael Boehler Photo: Soovin Choi Photo: Sebi Lee (Left) Melissa and Joey tandem surfing in Santa Cruz, using a custom surfboard from Pearson Arrow and a custom wetsuit for Joey from O’Neill. (Right) Filmmaker Sebi Lee’s last promise to Melissa was to complete her documentary.