What is the 'Ice Bucket Challenge'?
The 'Ice Bucket Challenge' is a campaign to raise money to fight the deadly Lou Gehrig's disease also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) - a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. The tens of thousands of people who have taken the ice bucket challenge douse themselves with freezing water and post videos of the stunt on social media sites to raise awareness for ALS. The challenge has gone viral and participants have included professional athletes, celebrities and politicians. If you take the challenge, you can nominate friends to do the same within a day or donate $100 to ALS. Many celebrities around the world have taken the challenge and donated money for ALS research, often both.
As of August 21, the ALS Association has received $41.8 million in donations.
From the ALS Association website: ALS was first found in 1869 by French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot, but it wasn't until 1939 that Lou Gehrig brought national and international attention to the disease. Ending the career of one of the most beloved baseball players of all time, the disease is still most closely associated with his name. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to their death. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed.
According to ALSA: At the onset of ALS the symptoms may be so slight that they are frequently overlooked. With regard to the appearance of symptoms and the progression of the illness, the course of the disease may include the following:
Muscle weakness in one or more of the following: hands, arms, legs or the muscles of speech,
swallowing or breathing
Twitching (fasciculation) and cramping of muscles, especially those in the
hands and feet
Impairment of the use of the arms and legs
"thick speech" and difficulty in projecting the voice
in more advanced stages, shortness of breath, difficulty in breathing and swallowing
How much money has been raised?
As of August 21, the ALS Association has received $41.8 million in donations, according to ALSA. These donations have come from existing donors and 739,275 new donors to The Association.
What will happen to the money you donated?
The ALS Association provides care services to assist people with ALS and their families through a network of chapters working in communities across the nation and a global research program focused on the discovery of treatments and eventually a cure for the disease.
Who is Corey Griffin?
Corey Griffin was the co-founder of the ice bucket challenge who died in a diving accident hours after raising $100,000 for ALS. Inspired by Pete Frates, a friend who was diagnosed with ALS, Griffin launched the ice bucket challenge to raise awareness and funds for the disease. On the night of August 15, after making a call to his father from Nantucket Island, Griffin drowned after diving from the roof of the Juice Guys building into Nantucket Harbor. Griffin was in town to do more fundraising for ALS research.
Who are the international and Bollywood celebrities who took the challenge?
David Beckham, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, former US presidents like George Bush, Bill Gates, LeBron James, Chris Christie, Sonakshi Sinha, Akshay Kumar, Riteish Deshmukh are among scores of celebrities to have participated in the challenge.
Who is Pete Frates?
Pete Frates is a 29-year-old former baseball player suffering from ALS and has inspired people the world over to take the challenge and raise awareness about the disease.
What is the controversy?
The challenge has been criticized for being nothing but a show of narcissism and accused of trivializing the seriousness of the disease without actually generating any help in the way of monetary donation towards ALS.
A Roman Catholic diocese in Ohio has also discouraging its 113 schools from participating in the ice bucket challenge to benefit the ALS Association, saying the group's funding of embryonic stem cell research is "in direct conflict with Catholic teaching."
Who are some of the prominent victims of ALS?
Both guitarist Jason Becker and physicist Stephen Hawking have lived with ALS for many years. Other people who have been victims of ALS include Hall of Fame pitcher Jim "Catfish" Hunter, Senator Jacob Javits, actors Michael Zaslow and David Niven, creator of Sesame Street Jon Stone, television producer Scott Brazil, boxing champion Ezzard Charles, NBA Hall of Fame basketball player George Yardley, pro football player Glenn Montgomery, golfer Jeff Julian, golf caddie Bruce Edwards, British soccer player Jimmy Johnstone, musician Lead Belly (Huddie Ledbetter), photographer Eddie Adams, entertainer Dennis Day, jazz musician Charles Mingus, former vice president of the United States Henry Wallace and US Army General Maxwell Taylor.
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