Josh Perry Inverview

I think my favorite thing about being a Team Manager is how well you get to know a rider and become great friends with them. Getting to know Josh Perry has been such an awesome experience and I now I call him a close friend. It definitely sucked when I heard that his tumor came back. But in true Josh fashion he was so up beat and positive about it all. I seriously am so impressed with his outlook on everything. Josh and I did this interview to shine a little more light on what is happening with him. Josh is going in tomorrow to get a procedure done that will hopefully take care of everything. Send positive thoughts his way! -Leigh.



Photo: Scott Criv

Leigh Ramsdell: A little while ago and said that your tumor had come back. I understand why you would not want to tell people. What made you start to let everyone know?
Joshua Perry: I was told people want to know, care to know, and it was the right thing to do. I have never been an "open" person and don’t want people to worry about me with everything people and the world have going on already, ha-ha.

I hear that. But now that people do know have things seemed to stay normal like you wanted?
Yeah, mainly because I feel not too many know still. I haven’t heard from many people and then when I talk about it people didn’t know anyways. I posted a long thing about it on my Facebook page about a month or so ago but guess people don’t like to read and skipped it ha-ha.

Yeah people have A.D.D. and if it's a long sentence they will pass it over. So what is next? How do they treat the tumor?
Well my surgeon Dr. Friedman at Duke University said they don’t want to operate on it because no one will be able to get that kind of wide margin around the surgical resection. That being said, he referred me to visit Tuft`s Medical Center in Boston, MA to have a treatment called "Gamma Knife" radiation therapy. It is basically a form of radiation that has 200 beams of radiation generated by radioactive cobalt that unlike normal radiation are not powerful enough to damage surrounding tissue but once they meet at the pinpointed location they are strong enough to help control/destroy the tumors growth.

So does that affect your body at all? Will you get sick from it like a normal radiation treatment?
Like everything, the side effects vary from person to person based on so many different variables. The most common side effects I have read are fatigue, hair loss, nausea, and headaches.

That sucks but I guess it's worth it to get it taken care off.
Well yeah I mean its either try that and deal with the possible side effects or see how long I last hoping it will go away ha-ha.

You seem to have a good handle on this and keep a real positive attitude on everything.
Appreciate it, I like to think that you get what you put into the universe. Craig Mast helped me realize that and I believe in it. If your always bummed and negative that’s what your going to attract to you. If your positive and happy, your more then likely going to get positivity and happiness. Life happens and stuff will go wrong or you will have negativity come to you but those are just challenges you need to get past. I have always been told it’s harder to do, think, or say the right thing and its to easy to just give up or complain or be bummed.

Yeah man I have always admired the way you look at things and what is happening to you now makes me do so even more. You have been cranking out some quality edits lately. Does this have something to do with you trying to ride as hard as you can now encase you get sick from the treatment?
Thats awesome and guess that kind of makes sense to what my girlfriend Charlotte and my mom tell me. They say that maybe this is happening to me to help people to see that there is always good in any situation and for me to show them with my positive attitude. I wish people appreciated what they have more and just lived their life and do what they want or dream of with out caring about what people think. I have always loved filming ever since I was like 16 and my buddy CB Coombs got his first camera and we started to film. It gives me motivation to think outside the box and to try stuff I been thinking about. The Hunt was the first thing I filmed knowing about my situation and defiantly pushed myself a bit for it. My day-to-day riding has been a bit more like that as well and actually started filming with Dan Foley again for another video. I have a huge list of things I want to do here in Greenville and got 5 of them done the other night. I would love to get as much done before my treatment incase I do get sick and cant ride longer but well see what I can do with my schedule and the Holidays. I am hoping to go into this as healthy as I can so that way I can get right back to where I am now!

You also have been into healthy diets. Have you always done that?
Ha-ha no way. I used to be the unhealthiest person I guess before I was first diagnosed with a brain tumor back in 2010. I changed that completely. I stopped drinking soda completely and have done so for about a year now. Since my surgery in 2010 I started to eat fruit and veggies every day, taking vitamins, eating organic and all natural as best as I can, and not eating artificial sugars or artificial ingredients. I wish I started this before because it has got me feeling amazing and having more energy.

I bet. So when do you start your treatment and how long do you do that for?
November 28th is my appointment and they say it can be a few hours that day to a few days that week. People see results in days worth up to a weeks worth of treatment just depends on the person and the severity of their diagnoses.

So crazy man. Anything else you want to add?
I could write a very long list-naming people who I want to thank but I will keep it on one page ha-ha. I wanna thank to Charlotte, mom, dad, brother, Nick Digeroloma, Leigh Ramsdell, rest of my family, all my friends, Eastern Bikes, ARF, Bern, Armourdillo, Novik, Vans, and anyone else that has sent positive vibes and thoughts to me or who support me and wish the best for me. Means a lot and helps me stay positive and keep on pushing. Thank you all and whoever else I may be forgetting, I`m sorry but thanks!

Josh at the Warehouse thinking about something nuts I am sure. Photo: Thomas Glew

And this is it. Josh icepicking a seriously tight vert quarter. Photo: Thomas Glew

Earlier this month Josh won Trans Jam's overall in Pro Park and Bell Helmet's best trick. From left to right: Nick D, Josh, Duncan, Josh's mom and Allan Cooke.

This is a Half-time show for the NFL in Jacksonville, Florida. Josh flipping for the fans.

Josh has been able to travel the world with his BMX. Here he is doing a hop whip in India.

This photo was taken just two days ago. Josh loves riding his bike and here he is getting it in before his treatment.