The Ice Bucket

I'm sure most of you have seen the whole "ice bucket challenge, donate for ALS" thing going on. Now, some of you may think it's silly or dumb, but there is no denying that it is helping.

A few days ago I read that donations have increased by almost 800% since this ice bucket thing started. That is a lot, and is much needed. The more effort put into finding information on ALS, the better.. This is a hell that nobody should have to go through.

I am making this thread to simply help educate the community about this terrible disease. I've seen a few threads about it, and quite a few conversations about it in-game. I feel that many don't really understand what it's for though, or just not enough.

What exactly is ALS?

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as "Lou Gehrig's Disease," is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord.

Now, that's a pretty complicated definition, so I decided to post a story from a man named Andrew Waldron. Again, I did NOT write the following story. It was shared in a public forum and I know he would be glad that it helped educate people in a place such as this. This could be pushing it, but I think it's needed.

What ALS is like:

"Imagine your body dying around you while you're still completely in control of your mental capacities. Maybe your arms go first (like with my father) and you can't feed, dress yourself or go to the bathroom alone. Maybe your legs go first and you can't walk or you start to fall down all the time. Maybe your ability to swallow goes first and you start putting food down into your lungs because the muscles no longer work.

Eventually, your body around you dies and no longer functions while you continue to see and process the world around you from a bed, immobile. Soon, the muscles that control your lungs start to die and breathing becomes harder and harder until eventually you suffocate under the weight of your own chest as your lungs are no longer strong enough to intake air.

No cure. Cause, relatively unknown. No real effective treatments or prevention's. Prognosis: Death. Timeframe: Varies Wildly

My father isn't to the later stages, he was just diagnosed in December. His arms are already 90% gone, his legs are 20% gone...you can't imagine watching the spasms his legs go through. Watching him fall the first time was terrifying, just fell over like a tree, crashing to the ground. Eventually he'll end his own life (if I have to help him do it, I will) rather than get to the later stages where it gets really bad."
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This is the disease called ALS, and this is what people have been pushing to donate for. This is what the ice bucket challenge represents. I would love to put links to donate, but a simple google search will show you all you need to know. This comes down to personal research and preference, and is pushing the boundaries for pimd.

Thank you all for reading. If this helped shed some light for a single person then it has done it's job.

If you have any personal stories, or just want to comment then please do. Troll posts will be emailed to support and dealt with, it is not tolerated on a topic such as this.

 

Cry, I believe it goes something like if you do the challenge you donate 10 dollars, but if you don't do the challenge then you donate 100. After awhile the amount of money didn't really matter, after big celebrities got involved. It basically just turned into a fun game that helps raise awareness and money to fight ALS. It gave people an opportunity to make fun and creative videos for a good cause.

At least I think that's how it started, to be honest I'm not 100% sure. If somebody knows more about it then please correct me.

 

Thank you, Anya. I didn't know where to even look for the origin. Thanks.

 

One last bump because of timezones, then it can rest in peace. I think it's important.

 

I live under a rock. ?

Still relevant though.