Flamboyant hockey commentator, Don Cherry claims to be the best-dressed ice bucket challenger.
Photo Credit: YouTube

Ice bucket challenge for ALS goes viral

People in Canada and around the world are raising money and awareness about a paralysing and fatal disease thanks to the irresistible urge to dump ice water on each other’s heads.

Celebrities, politicians and ordinary people are using social media to post videos of themselves, challenges to others and appeals for contributions to the ALS charity of their choice. The ice bucket challenge only started in Canada about three weeks ago and already $5.6 million has been raised.

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The ice bucket challenge for ALS even made it to Canada’s north, where challengers used water from the Arctic Ocean. © CBC

‘Awareness is phenomenal’

ALS, also known as Lou Gherig’s disease, attacks the neurons in the brain and spinal cord. Most people die between 2 and 5 years after initial diagnosis. While many of the posts are hilarious, some become serious, illustrating the reality of living and dying with ALS. “The awareness that’s coming from this is phenomenal,” says Tammy Moore, interim CEO, ALS Canada.

Donations will be used for research and to support for those with ALS by providing care and services, and sometimes equipment. “You can imagine, with this terminal diagnosis and rapid progression, it could be that you need somebody to help support you,” says Moore.

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“How do you navigate those changes as you start to lose… go from having tingles in your fingers and toes to losing the use of your arms, your legs, and eventually as it moves through to being unable to swallow, to being unable to breathe? So we support people who are living with the disease,” she says.

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Tammy Moore of ALS Canada calls the ice-bucket challenge and incredible viral phenomenon.

Funding for quality research

ALS Canada has a national research program that is internationally renowned. It provides grants for peer-reviewed research and holds conferences to bring together more than a hundred scientists to share the latest research.

Moore cannot say exactly how the funds will be allocated because they are still rolling in as the stunts and challenges continue. One hockey player went so far as to go up a mountain in western Canada to dump glacier ice on himself, all for fun and a good cause.

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