Joseph was born in 1999 to Jody and Sandy Peppersack with a rare condition known as tibial hemimelia. This resulted in the amputation of his right leg in 2003 when he was four years old. Joey did not begin swimming until he was 9 years old, joining a local club. After a few years and constant encouragement of his natural ability, Joey was persuaded into joining competitive paraswimming in 2011.
Peppersack has competed on the world stage several times. He briefly held the American record in the S8 100m IM and the S8 200m Freestyle.[3]