So fellow tech journo Andrew Yew and I (thanks Warren Lee aka KLGadgetGuy) got called out to do the ALSA #IceBucketChallenge. Being the quintessential Twitter troll, Andrew managed to rope in Microsoft’s Leigh Wong as well.
So, what’s ALS?
[Excerpt from ALSA] ALS or commonly know as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease” was first found in 1869 by French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot, but it wasn’t until 1939 that Lou Gehrig brought national and international attention to the disease. Ending the career of one of the most beloved baseball players of all time, the disease is still most closely associated with his name. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord.
Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to their death.
When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed.
Most commonly, ALS strikes people between the ages of 40 and 70, and as many as 30,000 Americans have the disease at any given time.
The ALS Association has committed $99 million to find effective treatments and a cure for Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
Our very own football legend Mokhtar Dahari suffered and died from muscle dysentry, also a form of ALS.
You may have seen tonnes of videos over social media on the #icebucketchallenge. And while it looks fun and all, it sends a very clear and serious message. ALSA needs your help. And so do ALS victims all around the globe. Alas. there is no cure for ALS. But when there’s proper funding for research, there’s hope.
There are naysayers and critics about the challenge, but I urge you to read a message from a family coping with ALS and hope you change your mind.
So, challenge accepted!
The three of us have decided to take up the challenge – but, inspired by the genius that is Charlie Sheen, we are adding a twist.
From now until 6pm (Malaysian Time) tomorrow, 23 August 2014 – we’re asking for donation pledges of a minimum RM100 per bucket. We hope to raise at least RM1,000 (that’s 10 buckets – at least 3 each!), which will all be donated to ALSA. We will then get splashed the following evening – in full video glory for all to see.
Want to see us get splashed?
We say: Put your money where your ice is.
