{"id":9965,"date":"2014-08-25T20:06:45","date_gmt":"2014-08-26T00:06:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/characterandleadership.com\/?p=9965"},"modified":"2017-07-11T13:39:56","modified_gmt":"2017-07-11T17:39:56","slug":"man-behind-ice-bucket-challenge-pete-frates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/characterandleadership.com\/man-behind-ice-bucket-challenge-pete-frates\/","title":{"rendered":"The Man Behind The Ice Bucket Challenge – Pete Frates"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Pete<\/a><\/p>\n

For the past two weeks, every time I open up my Facebook page, I see a new video of one of my friends accepting the ALS Water Bucket Challenge and then dumping a mixture of ice and water over their heads. In turn, they get to nominate 3 other individuals to do the same thing within 24 hours. It’s interesting and sometimes hilarious to watch, but I wanted to know where this challenge began and the motivation behind it.<\/p>\n

Pete Frates:<\/strong> It turns out a 27-year-old named Peter Frates was diagnosed with ALS in 2012. He was a three sport athlete in high school and captain of his baseball team at Boston College. When told about the diagnosis and given roughly 1,000 days to live, his words were, “Ok, Let’s strap it on.” He made it his mission to raise awareness and funding for this little known disease and work towards a cure. In May of 2014, a friend introduced the ice bucket challenge and nominated\u00a0others to take it in Pete’s honor. It has become a movement and a phenomenon. Last year the ALS association raised 2.5 million dollars. Since May, they have raised 80 million dollars and the total is growing by the hour.<\/strong> \u00a0Since his diagnosis, Pete has married his girlfriend and they are expecting a baby boy later this year…. and he has lost most of his physical abilities, including the ability to speak, walk or chew food.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=yCoKB_tU9ng<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 (please watch this ESPN video)<\/p>\n

ALS:<\/strong> This disease was made famous when Lou Gehrig, a famous major league baseball player, announced that he had this little known disease in 1939 in the prime of his career. \u00a0Very few people knew this disease so many referred to it as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease.” \u00a0https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=626Dt9JdjQs<\/a>\u00a0(Lou Gehrig’s farewell speech)<\/p>\n

ALS is a\u00a0neuro-degenerative disease. This disease impedes the neurons that send messages from the brain to the spinal cord. It is these messages that allow someone to walk, run, talk, chew, smile, lift an arm… As the disease progresses, a person loses more and more abilities, eventually dying because the brain can’t tell the body to even breathe.<\/p>\n