Dr. Eric Turner brings personal experience, love of Lowcountry to cancer care
Dr. Eric Turner is a longtime devotee of the Lowcountry, and talking to him, you’d never know he wasn’t born and raised here.
Having owned a home on Fripp Island for 18 years, he may as well be a native through and through. His phone camera roll is bursting with the pinks and golds of South Carolina sunsets seen from Fripp Island and the Spanish Moss Trail.
He loves traditional outdoor pastimes of the region like golf and tennis, and has lately been hearing the call of the pickleball community.
He’s a self-proclaimed “foodie” and a familiar face at many of Beaufort’s dining establishments, praising the shrimp and grits at Saltus as some of the best he’s ever had, and is a fixture on weekends at Johnson Creek Tavern with friends on Fripp.
You wouldn’t guess that Dr. Turner, a board-certified and fellowship-trained oncologist with Beaufort Memorial Oncology Specialists – and the Beaufort Memorial Director of Medical Oncology since arriving here in June 2024 – actually grew up in a Chevrolet dealership in Albemarle, N.C., tinkering with cars and dreaming of being a Major League Baseball star.
That dream shifted to a desire to serve his community and patients in the oncology field, which he said is “where his heart is.”
A Young Man’s Dream
Dr. Turner grew up around cars: his father was a Chevrolet salesman for 26 years, so the North Carolina native was raised in and around the dealership. That upbringing instilled in him a love of cars, particularly classic models, and an interest in auto-body work, which followed him throughout high school.
(Right now, his “baby” is his 1966 Stingray Corvette.)
As a young teenager, though, his passion was baseball.
“I wanted to play Major League Baseball,” he remembered. “I was a pretty good baseball player; if you asked me what I wanted to do when I was 14, I’d say I wanted to pitch for the Boston Red Sox!”
His dreams of an MLB career came to a screeching end following an arm injury in high school.
“Doctoring was the next thing,” he chuckled. “You never know where life is gonna take you.”
That arm injury caused him to spend some time around the field of orthopedics, and Dr. Turner did consider that direction for his medical career. However, he ultimately decided on a different path.
“At one point, when I first started medical school, I briefly entertained the idea,” he said. “But really, oncology was my true calling.”
Finding his Purpose
Dr. Turner’s introduction to a career in oncology began after finishing his undergraduate degree at North Carolina State University in Raleigh and he began working in Duke University’s Molecular Cancer Biology department. There, he spent five years doing cancer research.
“It’s kind of interesting looking back on that, because it really did kind of set the tone for what I wanted to do,” he said. “I had thought previously about going to medical school, but as soon as I got that research background, I decided it was time to do it.”
During his five years researching at Duke, his family was shaken by something unexpected: his father was diagnosed with stage 3 lung cancer, causing Dr. Turner’s connection to the oncology field to transition from a professional one to a personal one.
About one in three people are affected by cancer in their lifetime, in one way or another, Dr. Turner said.
“Our family was no different.”
While he was in medical school, his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Years later, she, too, was diagnosed with lung cancer. Dr. Turner’s philosophy is, understandably, driven by his family’s personal experience.
“My dad went through the whole gamut – chemotherapy, radiation and surgery,” he recalled. “I bring a lot of that to the table when I see a patient, because I remember the years of going through what my family went through, those patient visits, the doctor’s office, hearing the news, the scans. By doing that, it affects how you approach patient care.”
His goal is always to give patients the experience that he and his own family wanted during their own journey. The bonds created in the field of oncology are unique, he said.
“I never wavered from oncology, and the biggest part of it is the bonds, the associations that I develop with my patients over what is absolutely a condition that’s life-threatening,” he said. “That bond and relationship is extremely special.”
Pledge the Pink
Dr. Turner’s connection to cancer care goes beyond his bond with his patients – for several years, the oncologist and Lowcountry outdoor enthusiast and his wife have participated in Pledge the Pink, a multi-day event dedicated to raising money for breast cancer screening, treatment, outreach and research.
With Fripp Island now as his permanent residence, Dr. Turner has ties to Pledge the Pink both as a local and as a Beaufort Memorial physician.
In fact, participants and volunteers at the 2025 event – held Oct. 16-19 and featuring events on Fripp Island, Dataw Island and in Habersham – may even see the oncologist bringing up the rear of the Beaufort-Memorial-sponsored golf cart parade held on the island on Oct. 18.
“It’s a fun time,” he laughed. “And now, working with Beaufort Memorial, it’s going to be great. It’s obviously for a great cause, so I like to do anything I can to cheer people on.”
He, like countless other Pledge the Pink volunteers, participants and supporters, will don his fuchsia attire that weekend for a fun celebration of survivorship and community. While Beaufort Memorial is sponsoring the golf cart parade that will feature the smiling, waving physician, the organization is also sponsoring the Survivor and Thriver celebration scheduled for Friday, October 17 on Dataw Island.
As an oncologist, Dr. Turner values the relationships with his patients more than anything, and the event is an opportunity to get out and share that passion with his community.
“I love taking care of oncology patients,” he said. “I always tell patients, this is a journey, and you want someone to walk that journey with you. It’s a tight bond, and that’s what I really love about it.”
