Most of you will have heard of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge by now, but if you have not, here’s a bit of background.
“Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, often referred to as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease,” is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain & the spinal cord. Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord & 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 & control muscle movement is lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed.”
To help raise money for the ALS research celebrities and regular folk alike have been taking videos of themselves pouring buckets of ice water on themselves and nominating 3 more people to take on the challenge. If they do not accept, nominees are supposed to donate $100 to the ALS, but everyone is encouraged to donate even if they participate.
The US ALS Association is accepting donations here and the UK’s Motor Neurone Disease Association is taking donations via its website as well as on Just Giving. You can also text ICED55 and the amount you wish to donate to 70070.
If you take the challenge, use the hashtags #icebucketchallenge, #alsicebucketchallenge, and #strikeoutals!
Matthew has been nominated a few times and finally responded with his video:
(Thanks to AccioMattdavelewis for putting Matt’s video on YouTube so we could share it)