In 1946, when Lewis Perelmutter was eleven years old, his father dropped dead of a heart attack. He and his mother were left destitute, moving from one Montreal hovel to the next. He dreamed of one day escaping poverty and changing the world.

But there was more tragedy still to come. In 1980, he was trapped in a burning hotel room in Las Vegas during the devastating MGM Grand fire. Looking out his window, he watched in horror as desperate guests leapt to their deaths.