The Anaheim Ducks Take On the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge
By Paul Miller
Pete Frates was once a young and talented college athlete for Boston College.
He played a wide range of sports as he was involved in Boston College’s baseball, football, and hockey teams.
At the age of 27, Frates was diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or more commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease).
ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects the nerve cells in the brain and the spinal chord.
The degeneration of these neurons causes the brain to lose the ability to initiate and control muscle movements.
Patients who survive into the later stages of the disease often become completely paralyzed.
Always the fighter and the leader, Frates has taken it upon himself to raise funding and awareness for the disease which has no known cure or treatment.
On July 29 Frates started the ice bucket challenge by challenging former teammates, one of which was Joe Correia.
Joe Correia would go on to challenge his former teammate Gregory Campbell, now of the Boston Bruins.
Campbell challenged Brad Marchand who challenged Torey Krug who challenged more Bruins teammates who challenged players from other NHL teams.
From there it spread like wildfire through the NHL including the Ducks organization.
In these last few weeks the ALS association has raised millions of dollars which will go towards their mission to find a cure and provide the best possible treatment for ALS patients.