Pete Frates can no longer speak, but in the past two-and-a-half weeks, a video that the 29-year-old former college baseball player posted on Facebook has inspired people from Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates and NBA star LeBron James, to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and singer Taylor Swift to dump a bucket of ice on their heads and speak out for his cause.
The Ice Bucket Challenge has lit social media on fire, raising money and awareness for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. About 30,000 Americans have the rare disease, which attacks nerve cells and ultimately leads to total paralysis, though the mind remains sharp. Life expectancy is typically two to five years after diagnosis.
The stunt goes like this: People film themselves dumping a bucket of ice water on their heads, post it on Facebook, Instagram or other social media sites and then challenge friends to do the same within 24 hours or donate US$100 to ALS. Many do both.
People shared more than 1.2 million videos on Facebook between June 1 and Wednesday last week, and have mentioned the phenomenon more than 2.2 million times on Twitter since July 29, according to those sites.
Donations to the ALS Association have spiked. As of Sunday, the association said it had received US$13.3 million in donations since July 29, compared with US$1.7 million in the same period last year. It said it had about 260,000 new donors.
The stunt had been making the rounds on the Internet for several weeks before it was tied to ALS. Matt Lauer, host of NBC’s Today Show, had water poured over his head on July 15 after being challenged by golfer Greg Norman. Lauer said he would donate money to the Hospice of Palm Beach County and challenged Brian Williams, Martha Stewart and Howard Stern.
Late last month, Frates learned about the challenge from his friend Pat Quinn, who also has ALS, and wanted to turn the trend into a fundraiser for the disease.
Frates nominated himself for the challenge. Instead of having water poured on his head — “ice water and ALS are a bad mix,” he said on Facebook — he posted a video of himself bouncing his head to Ice, Ice Baby, the 1989 hit song by Vanilla Ice. He challenged friends and the stunt spread quickly until last week, a slew of famous names joined.
Last week, Frates again took the challenge, this time having ice dumped on his head at the Red Sox’s Fenway Park in Boston.
“Did we ever imagine the level of awareness or the money that is coming in? In our dreams we did,” Frates’ mother, Nancy Frates, said.
Nancy Frates said her son had been “living the life” when he called a family meeting in 2012. He revealed his illness and said he did not want to whine, but instead use the diagnosis as an opportunity to positively affect other people’s lives.
Frates has lost the ability to move his arms and legs and now communicates through eye-gaze technology, his mother said. He was married last year to Julie Frates and they are expecting a baby.
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