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I found it strange that people
would do such silly things to raise funds in this way for the cause as serious as ALS.
Just then I read another friend’s
status that read “Hit yourself on the head with a cast-iron bucket it to raise
awareness about stupidity. Welcome to the #KickBucket challenge.”
It seemed stupidity to me too.
What was this challenge and what was a big deal. I posted on my wall “What is
the big challenge? Indian do have ice cold bucket bath everyday”
As the day progressed, my FB time line was getting flooded with many such videos of known people accepting #IceBucketChallenge. It
was going viral. In the trending column, it showed that donations to the A.L.S. Association, a Washington-based
nonprofit that funds global research to find treatments and a cure for the
disease, had surged since the challenge started trending in late July. The
group said Thursday morning that it had received $41.8 million in donations
from July 29 until Aug. 21.
$41.8millions raised for
challenge of ice cold bath?
“NO, people. do NOT post pictures
of yourselves in bathrooms with a bucket, wet from a bath. NOBODY wants to see
you that way, and it is NOT what the ice water bucket challenge is all about.”
Screamed the status of yet another friend.
Was it a joke that people were
enjoying? And why were educated people on my FB list doing it too? Another friend wrote:
In
conversation with my niece, it finally began to make sense. She told me about her 30years old friend (she knew in Bangalore) who was suffering from this illness. She said
that he had two small kids and he had very little time to live.
"Stop calling ice bucket challenge
'stupid' or 'useless' because it is not. Yes the water is getting somewhat
wasted but it is more of an investment than wastage... Get your facts rather
than criticizing every damn thing!!!"
When the disease strike some one
close, a person we may know, we begin to feel its weight. We understand the
seriousness of this disease.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)—also referred to as motor neurone disease (MND),
Charcot disease, and, in the United States, Lou Gehrig's
disease—is a neurodegenerative
disease with various causes. It is characterized by muscle spasticity, rapidly
progressive weakness due to muscle atrophy,
difficulty in speaking (dysarthria),
swallowing (dysphagia),
and breathing (dyspnea). ALS
is the most common of the five motor neuron diseases.
One moment, a person is leading a
very normal life, enjoying a game of basketball, and next moment he feels
heaviness in his feet. He stumbles and falls, then experiences awkwardness when
walking or running. Over the time, he starts experiencing difficulty in moving,
swallowing, speaking or forming words. His muscles begin to tighten and there
is exaggerated reflexes including an overactive gag reflex. Difficulty in
chewing and swallowing makes eating very difficult and increases the risk of
choking or of aspirating food into lungs. In later stages of the disease,
aspiration pneumonia can develop, and maintain a healthy weight can become
significant problem that may require the insertion of a feeding tube,
Although his mind remains sharp,
ALS, that attacks his nerve cells, can ultimately lead to paralysis. Life
expectancy is typically two to five years from the time of diagnosis.
The exact cause is not understood
and there is no cure or treatment that can stop or reverse the disease. There
is need to find a proper drug to cure the person from this disease.
I finally began to understand the
seriousness of this disease and the importance of doing research. By ALS
#IceBucketChallenge, a lot of awareness has been spread, by tagging people on
social media, a united chain has been created and people are donating happily
for this cause.
And all things said and done,
there is humor behind this serious cause.
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amyotrophic_lateral_sclerosis
