ALS Patient Responsible For The Ice Bucket Challenge Supports A Bill In Congress Regarding ALS

By CEM | Mar 06, 2017 | 06:45 AM EST

The guy from Boston who influenced the Ice Bucket Challenge to the public has surprisingly accumulated approximately $200 million for the ALS research. What's more, he's supporting a bill in Congress which would aid other people suffering from the said disease. 

As reported by U.S. News, Democratic U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton promoted the ALS Disability Insurance Access Act. Moulton stated this bill would help the ALS patients by disregarding the 5-month Social Security disability insurance waiting period. Moulton also added that the legislation would accelerate benefits for these patients. Pete Frates, the man behind this famous challenge, is making an effort in Congress together with Moulton. 

As stated by Mayo Clinic, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, is a disease of the nervous system in which nerve cells slowly deteriorate. It starts with physical symptoms such as muscle twitching and weakness. Voluntary muscles are primarily affected, making the patient barely control the body, especially breathing. Sadly, this disease is fatal and incurable. Frates, unfortunately, is one of the victims of this terrible illness. The Ice Bucket Challenge was one of the ways sought to assist the funding of its research. 

The Ice bucket Challenge is basically an activity in which a person's head would be splashed with cold water and ice. The person doing the challenge may dump it to himself. It can be done by another person. Either way, the purpose of this is to contribute to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis awareness.

In 2014, with a number of help from various netizens, TV personalities, famous Hollywood celebrities, and even U.S. politicians, the Ice Bucket Challenge became more popular (and trendy). The videos of these people were posted throughout the social networking sites. Shockingly, these videos allured 400 million views on social media, according to Yahoo News!.

Thus, it also encouraged not only these people but also the others to fund ALS research. And now that the initial and main goal of the challenge has achieved, it's ready for the next level. The next step would provide an essential and appropriate aid to ALS patients.  

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