Mark Daniels has faced danger at 30,000 feet — and in a hospital bed. At 83, the Navy vet and retired commercial pilot is once again flying high after beating cancer for the second time.
Daniels was first diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in the early 2000s. He credits Dr. Andre Goy of Hackensack Meridian John Theurer Cancer Center with getting him through it.
“He was my lifeline,” Daniels said.
With Dr. Goy’s treatment, Daniels went into remission. He returned to the gym, to the cockpit, and to life.
Years passed. Then came pain in his back and groin. It got worse. He ended up in the emergency room.
The diagnosis came fast: cancer again. Daniels knew where to go.
“He’s more than just a doctor; he’s a miracle worker,” Daniels said of Dr. Goy.
Tests revealed an aggressive form of lymphoma—hard to treat at any age, let alone in someone in their 80s.
“Not an easy thing to treat in someone in his 80’s though Mark was in amazing shape otherwise,” Dr. Goy said.
Standard chemo brought side effects, but little progress. A stem cell transplant wasn’t an option. Then came a different path—CAR T-cell therapy.
John Theurer Cancer Center has been a leader in CAR T-cell therapy, offering it for over a decade with the National Cancer Institute.
The therapy reprograms a patient’s own immune cells to attack cancer. One infusion can lead to remission in nearly half of aggressive B cell lymphoma cases.
Daniels was a match.
He took the treatment. He recovered. He flew again.
“It’s an incredible privilege to have cared for this brave pilot,” Dr. Goy said. “To see him conquer this disease, especially with the groundbreaking power of CAR T-cell therapy, as we approach Memorial Day, is deeply moving.”
Daniels calls the doctor brilliant. Compassionate. A miracle worker.
He also praised the rest of the care team.
“Although hospitals are buildings, the most important part is not the physical structure; but rather, the people inside,” he said. “It was almost as if I was a part of their family, maybe their grandfather.”
Daniels is now cancer-free.
And he’s still flying.
