ALS ice bucket challenge co-founder dies at 37

Patrick Quinn, the co-founder of the popular ice bucket challenge, died on Sunday at the age of 37.

Quinn was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease, known formally as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), in 2013. The neurological disease attacks the nerve cells that control muscles throughout the body. Quinn helped to popularize the ice bucket challenge, in which a person dumps a bucket of icy water over themselves and then challenges other friends to do the same in order to raise awareness of ALS.

As CBS News reports, the ice bucket challenge went viral in the summer of 2014, with many high-profile figures taking part, helping to raise more than $115 million for the ALS Foundation and over $220 million for ALS research.

“We are deeply saddened to share that Pat Quinn, co-founder of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge passed away at the age of 37,” the ALS Foundation wrote in a Facebook post on Sunday. “The Ice Bucket challenge dramatically accelerated the fight against ALS, leading to new research discoveries, expansion of care for people with ALS, and greater investment by the government in ALS research.”

Quinn, along with fellow founder Pete Frates, was nominated for Time magazine’s “Person of the Year” award, and continued to go around the country speaking to groups to raise awareness about the effects of ALS. He continued to host the ice bucket challenge in Yonkers, New York, his hometown, after it reached popularity.

Speaking to a crowd at the fifth anniversary of the ice bucket challenge, Quinn said, “Nobody knew the ice bucket challenge would become a worldwide phenomenon, but we united as one because that is what it takes to change a disease like ALS.”