Ice bucket challenge: Latest internet craze, and it’s for a good cause

Bill Gates. YouTube screengrab

MANILA, Philippines—After netizens went abuzz with taking selfies and undergoing #MakeupTransformations, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is social media’s latest craze.

The ice bucket challenge is the latest craze in social media where a number of celebrities and athletes have buckets of ice and ice-cold water dumped while on them while tagging others to do the same to raise awareness about the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) or the Lou Gehrig’s disease.

According to the ALS Association in America, 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 (the patient’s) death.”

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg took the challenge and dared the richest man in the world and former Microsoft Chief executive Bill Gates to do the same.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baeLtRZbwgY

Bill Gates accepted the challenge and dared American Idol host Ryan Seacrest.

Boxer Chris Algieri also challenged boxing champion Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao to take the challenge ahead of their boxing match set on November 23 this year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvpfBAov-fE

Gilas Pilipinas players Marc Pingris, Jared Dilinger and Marcus Douthit also took the challenge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj6zYhNOOaY

Filipino professional wrestler Dave “Batista” Bautista of “Guardians of the Galaxy” also took the challenge and dared boxer Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire to do the same.

American Singer-songwriter Justine Timberlake also joined the craze and took the challenge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4smHMO1Crg

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