[music over MUSC Hollings Cancer Center LOWVELO logo]
[Words on screen: In 2022, we sat down with Martin “Marty” Perlmultter ... one of the first patients to receive CAR-T cell therapy at Hollings. Hollings’ first CAR-T cell clinical trial was funded, in part, by LOWVELO riders.]
[Marty Perlmutter sitting in an MUSC Hollings Cancer Center conference room]
Marty: One of the nice things about Car-T and really it's very, very different from chemotherapy that way, is you, you return to ordinary life.
And, one of the things about having been sick with cancer for so many years is I appreciate the every day.
[Marty picking fruit from a tree, standing on a stool to lift a full birdfeeder onto a pole, watering plants and walking with his wife]
I love getting up and making coffee, and feeding the birds, and taking care of my worm bin, and taking care of my plants, and tending the garden.
The quality of life is being able to enjoy the every day.
I've been blessed with a very good family.
Our children all live here, so I've had plenty of quality time with my wife and our four kids and 11 grandchildren.
So, life is good.
[Words on screen: After courageously living with cancer for more than a decade, Marty passed away in 2023. His children now carry on his legacy ...]
[Three men and one woman walk along a path in a park]
Jacob Perlmutter, Team MAR-T Therapy: Yeah, he was a dedicated family man his whole life. Our family was everything to him. He he was involved in a million different things.
We found out, you know, even at his funeral that he had hundreds of friends...of best friends that we didn't even know about.
A lot of people felt very close to him, but we always felt he was a dedicated husband and family man first.
[photograph of a large extended family consisting of Marty and his wife, four children, their spouses and 11 grandchildren]
Estee Perlmutter, Team MAR-T Therapy: It's pretty hard to capture him with a couple of words, but he was a smallish man [all 4 laugh].
But larger than life, big personality, charming, just incredibly sincere, offered advice to everyone.
Daniel Perlmutter, Team MAR-T Therapy: He really would love that we're doing this. and being out here in the park and outside. He loved being outdoors and loved building community.
Aaron Perlmutter, Team MAR-T Therapy: We're all proud to have come from him. We would joke because he would talk to us all, like, pretty regularly, every couple days. And we all felt really kind of special and important. And then we found out later that he did that with, you know, half the town.
Yeah, people just loved him. He was full of personality and had a great sense of humor and just very fortunate.
[Words on screen: Though he was not one for traditional medicine, Marty was intrigued to be part of this new treatment – CAR-T cell therapy.]
Jacob: He used to say he was genetically modified. He would go around and he was proud of that. I think that he, I think he was proud to do this treatment, though it was cutting edge. I mean, he was also a philosopher and also a professor of biomedical ethics. And I think that he thought a lot about these things and he was proud to do it.
And I think he was also actually, because he was so community minded, he was proud to be able to do it here, with MUSC.
[Exterior of MUSC Hollings Cancer Center building]
Daniel: He really didn't want the treatments to define him. He was much more focused on what he did during his life, I think. I think that goes back to that community mindset we keep coming around to.
[Words on screen: Marty’s kids now ride in LOWVELO to honor him.]
Estee: The money that was raised by LOWVELO allowed for CAR-T treatment to happen. And that research was so important. So, there's a little bit of a loyalty. And we were up for a challenge. It was perfect.
Jacob: Just the fact that it's local, I think would have meant a lot to my dad. Again, I think that that's a really important thing. He felt like this was something he was a part of, right here in Charleston. And it was happening, and available, you know, right here in his backyard. So, it was a community that he was proud to be a part of.
You know, I imagine if he had his choice, he might have been a part of it in a different way.
[laughter]
But he was proud that MUSC was here in Charleston doing this work.
[Researchers in white lab coats work in the lab]
Daniel: I think also everyone knows someone that's been impacted by cancer and you oftentimes find yourself wondering what to do.
[Dozens of bicyclists cross the Ravenel bridge and pedal past historic structures in downtown Charleston]
And this is just an easy, fun way to show support, to go out and bike with a bunch of friends and community. And that's what you can do.
Aaron: He'd be super proud. And, even if he couldn't hop on a bike, he would have been there for the celebration at the end, so...
[People mingling at an outdoor celebration, barbeque, a band playing on an outdoor stage, and drone footage of bicyclists coming to the finish line with the beach visible one block away]
Jacob: The party at the end of the race was awesome. Food was delicious. The music was great. The the camaraderie...everything is so positive. And again, it was a beautiful day out on, Front Beach on Isle of Palms. Again, that's sort of our home court, right? We grew up right there. And so it's a place that’s real familiar to us too. So to be there as a family was sort of special at the end of the race, too.
[Photo of the siblings in LOWVELO jerseys and bike helmets]
Daniel: It's also a celebration of the people doing the work. You know, the doctors are out there. It's nice to celebrate the boots on the ground, doing the hard work, and seeing how much support the community is trying to offer them, as well as they, they struggle to find these breakthroughs.
Estee: They see so much loss. But then at an event like this they can see all the wins. And the families still engaged and so grateful for all of their work each and every day, which is pretty tough.
Jacob: I ride for Marty Perlmutter and I'm proud of what MUSC is doing here in Charleston. Aaron: I mean, there's just a crucial need for cancer research and raising funds. And so, I was happy to be a part of that.
Daniel: I’d say I ride for the future, really. I mean, these future improvements that are going to change other people’s families so they're sitting here giving a different interview 20 years down the road. That's sort of what we're all hoping for.
Estee: I ride for hope – that other people live 20 years, not 10 years. That researchers continue having their scientific breakthroughs and feel supported and have the resources they need. So, just hope that other people have different outcomes.
[Words on screen in handwriting script: We ride for our dad, Marty Perlmutter, for CAR-T cell therapy and to bring hope to other families.]
[The Perlmutter message takes its place in a wall of other, similar messages as the MUSC Hollings Cancer Center LOWVELO logo appears along with the words Why I Ride.]
