The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

I saw the ICE Bucket Challenge on the internet, and I didn't mind it. 

I heard that celebrities are doing it, I definitely didn't want to hear about it. 

I heard that they're doing it for a famous athlete, Pete Frates, but still that did not get my attention.

My first thought was, another crazy stunts from celebrities just to get famous.

My friends on Facebook are even posting about it.

I got curious, so I looked it up. I still didn't understand why such a challenge existed and became popular.

Finally, I logged out of  my AOL account and found a video in the website that interested me, the headline said something about a guy who cried over it.

And yes, the video did surprised me. I found out the reason why they're doing it. 

It looks fun doing the challenge, and challenging other famous or powerful people to do it, but it has a more serious note about it. 

Watch the whole video below to find out how serious ALS is, and why this guy actually appreciated that celebrities are raising awareness about it.

ALS is also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. In England and Australia, they call it MND or Motor Neuron Disease. It paralyzes the body little by little, until you can't use any parts of your body anymore because they aren't strong enough to move. Somebody has to do it for you, and that somebody has to be really patient. 

According to www.alsa.org, "As motor neurons degenerate, they can no  longer send impulses to the muscle fibers that normally result in muscle movement." 

To learn more about it, you can visit their site at ALSA.

It seems that Lou Gehrig was the first famous person who got diagnosed with such disease. He is an American baseball baseman for the New York Yankees from 1923-1939. He was famous in his time because of "his prowess as a hitter and his durability" (according to Wikipedia). There was a decline on his physical ability to play, and everyone noticed it, but they didn't know why. Only when his wife, Eleanor, called the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, and Gehrig flew in there that they found out what the disease was.

Lou Gehrig

Pete Frates, was the inspiration behind the Ice Bucket Challenge. He was a former college baseball star, and lost his voice because of ALS, and it seems that this disease has no cure yet. Because of the ICE Bucket Challenge, awareness about ALS has been raised by celebrities and more funding has been provided for this disease. Pete also is supported by friends, fans, and family and you can visit his website http://petefrates.com/ for any updates about him and his disease.

Pete Frates

Anthony, was the guy who cried in the video above. He has been diagnosed of ALS, and it seems that the disease runs in the family. Her grandmother died of it, and her mother has it for 10 years now. You can visit his website at http://anthonycarbajal.com/2014/05/i-have-als/, and check out his story.

This is Anthony Carbajal, the guy on the video above.