In Loving memory of Dank Dank
ALS #IceBucketChallenge
With
social media, it doesn’t take long for a video, trend, or challenge to go
‘viral’. One of the latest challenges to take on a viral status is the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.
Many of
you may be wondering what ALS even stands for. Our family knows all too well
what these three letters mean. ALS or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, more
commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is diagnosed in about 5,600 Americans
each year. My father-in-law, Thomas Fife (affectionately known as Dank Dank to
the grandkids), was one of the victims of this disease. First diagnosed in a
baseball player named Lou Gehrig in 1939, ALS is a progressive
neurodegenerative disease that affects the nerve cells in the brain and spinal
cord. This neurodegenerative process causes progressive loss of voluntary
muscle control, leaving the person with the inability to eat, speak, walk, and
eventually breathe. The individual eventually becomes totally paralyzed. There
are no effective treatments for this disease. Those diagnosed with ALS live an
average of only 2-5 years from the time of diagnosis. ALS is 100% fatal.
So what
is the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge? This challenge surfaced a few weeks ago,
started by former Boston College baseball player Pete Frates. The challenge quickly spread across the country.
Celebrities, politicians, athletes, and common men and women, have taken part
in the challenge to have a bucket of ice water dumped over his/her head. When
they complete the challenge, they are to challenge others to do the same or
make a donation to fight ALS (or a charity of their choice) within 24 hours.
Apparently, those individuals who completed the challenge end up making a
donation as well. The ALS Association reports donations to various chapters of
the organization totaling $4 million
between July 29 & August 12 as a result of this challenge. Last year at the
same time donations totaled about $1.12 million. Not only is the ALS
association thanking the public for the monetary donations, but also for the
visibility the disease has gained since the inception of this challenge.
It is
great to live in a time when we can see something such as the Ice Bucket
Challenge bring so much awareness to a disease and lead to so many generous
donations to organizations committed to fighting ALS. Social media is a huge
part of our life today. Those of us who peruse Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram
view pictures of friends, kids, spiritual sayings, political bashing, recipes,
and even pictures of what a friend had for lunch. We are uplifted, angered, or
given new information to discuss with friends. We are given reminders of
friend’s birthdays and flooded with well wishes when we post how sick we feel.
We use social media for so much today. Some negative, some positive. I love to
see when our use of social media can have such a profound positive force in our
lives and in this world. The #IceBucketChallenge makes me appreciate it so much
more.
To learn
more about ALS and to make a donation, visit: http://www.alsa.org/ Go ahead. I #IceBucketChallenge
you!
Dr. Donna Poma Fife DNP, ARNP
Disclaimer: Author has no
affiliation to the ALS association. It’s just an issue near and dear to my heart.
Here is our ALS #IceBucketChallenge! Nevia wasn't home to join in on the fun. It's hard to get us all in the same place at one time! In the video, you will see that our dog Coco thinks we are nuts!
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