Patrick Quinn, one of the co-founders of a worldwide “bucket” campaign in which people poured ice buckets filled with ice water, the so-called Ice Bucket Challenge, died in the United States on Sunday as a result of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). His supporters announced it on Facebook. The challenge, in which world statesmen and celebrities joined in 2014, helped raise awareness of ALS and raise hundreds of millions of dollars for research.
–
Quinn, who died at the age of 37, was diagnosed by doctors in 2013, Reuters reports. ALS is a very progressive neuromuscular disease in which the patient gradually loses control of all the muscles in the body. For example, the British physicist Stephen Hawking or the former Czech Prime Minister Stanislav Gross suffered from it.
–
“We are very sad to announce that Patrick died early this morning,” his supporters wrote on the social network. “We will forever remember how he was inspired by us in his tireless struggle with ALS,” he writes.
–
The challenge, called the Ice Bucket Challenge, became a hit on social networks in the summer of 2014, flooding videos and photos of people pouring buckets of ice water over their heads. They then called on others to do the same, while contributing to ALS research. The campaign, which was also attended by billionaire Bill Gates, American former president George Bush Jr. or the then Slovak head of state Andrej Kiska, managed to raise $ 220 million (4.8 billion crowns).
—
