Story by Tadra Boulton
It took the social media world by storm last year.
The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge — an activity involving dumping a bucket of ice water on someone's head to promote awareness of the disease — went viral in 2014 and raised a cool $17 million for the ALS Society of Canada.
This month marks the one-year anniversary of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge — and now the ALS Society of Canada is trying to make it an annual event with the theme: Every August Until a Cure.
To that end, Dr. David Taylor, Director of Research for ALS Society of Canada, challenged four Edmonton researchers from the University of Alberta to gather pledges and participate this year, including Dr. Wendy Johnston and Dr. Sanjay Kalra, who are directors of Alberta Health Services’ ALS clinic in the city.
“The ice bucket challenge is a gift that we can use to raise ALS awareness and funds every year and is an opportunity to reach people with no prior connection to the disease,” says
Dr. Taylor. “We had 250,000 new donors last year in Canada. That means more than 34 million people out there haven’t yet been challenged. Let’s do this together. It’s so little to do for potentially so much in return.”
On Aug. 20, Drs. Johnston and Kalra were doused by clinic and lab staff as well as students, while many of their colleagues cheered them on.
“I am pleased to see this awareness campaign continue,” says Dr. Johnston. “The key for making strides in understanding this disease and developing interventions lies in research. The financial boost this campaign has given research will benefit Canadians and Albertans for years to come.”
ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a neurodegenerative disease where the nerve cells that connect the brain to the muscles degenerate, leading to a loss of mobility, loss of speech and eventually impact the ability to breathe. Every day, two or three Canadians die of the disease.
This is a terminal disease. ALS does not have a cure or an effective treatment. In Canada, about 2,500 to 3,000 Canadians are living with ALS; 1,000 will die from the disease and 1,000 will be newly diagnosed each year. The lifespan after diagnosis is on average two to five years.
Donations can be made at alsicebucketchallenge.ca. Donations to the ALS Clinic at the University of Alberta Hospital can be made through the University Hospital Foundation at givetoUHF.ca or the ALS Society of Alberta at alsab.ca.
