The #ALSIceBucketChallenge is everywhere. It's all over Instagram, it's probably flooding your Facebook newsfeed and everyone's talking about it. With the surprising amount of celebrities taking part to help raise awareness for ALS, many are probably wondering what this is really all about. Well, it's not just one person taking on the challenge of pouring ice-filled water over their head but there's actually a story behind it.
The man who inspired the challenge to raise awareness regarding this disease and speed up the process for finding its cure is a 29-year-old former captain of the Boston College baseball team. His name is Pete Frates and he was diagonised with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) in March 2012. While playing for the baseball team, something suddenly didn't feel right with his body. At just 27-years old, his fight with ALS began.
Instead of letting the disease overcome him, Frates decided to do something bigger, make a difference and "He would make his fight matter," the video goes on to say. A year after being diagnosed, Frates went to the FDA to call for "more attention and more action."
Frates was introduced to the ice bucket challenge by a friend and it was being done by several people to raise funds for any charity organisation of their choice. Frates then used this challenge by nominating his friends to raise funds for his own organisation called the 'Pete Frates #3 Fund' as well as 'Team Frate Train', which is committed to ALS organisations working towards research and patient care. From there? That's when celebrities, families and millions of people worldwide started getting themselves involved.
Pete Frates' message is now loud and clear. Watch the video below for the full story.
From YouTube User Tube Test
In just a few weeks, the scale of the results is incredible. The ALS Association has received $41.8 million both from existing donors and hundreds of thousands of new contributors since the #ALSIceBucketChallenge went viral.