Stephen Hawking, A Sufferer Of ALS, Sort Of Took The Ice Bucket Challenge, But Why Did He Delay?
The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge still hasn’t lost steam. On the contrary, after managing to garner support from the likes of major personalities, TV stars, prominent businessmen, and political figures, the global appeal has only gained prominence. Now one of the most brilliant minds on the planet, Stephen Hawking, has decided to lend his might behind one social media’s most successful campaigns.
Stephen Hawking, who recently joined social media platform Facebook and began posting, took the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, reported Time. For obvious reasons, Hawking did not personally participate, but his two sons, one daughter, and his grandson drenched themselves on his behalf. The various videos of Stephen Hawking participating in the Ice Bucket Challenge have already gone viral, collectively garnering more than a million views so far.
Speaking through his special thought translation computer, Stephen Hawking said, “It wouldn’t have been very safe for me to have done the ice bucket challenge, but that is why I have three beautiful children who could take the plunge for me. Please donate to the MNDA after watching this video.”
It is perhaps ironic that Stephen Hawking took so long to participate in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. This is because the brilliant scientist himself is a long-term sufferer of the horrific, steadily degenerative diseases that robs the body of its mobility. Stephen Hawking was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) at the young age of 21. Hence it was only logical to assume that such an esteemed personality would be one of the first people to lend their support to the Ice Bucket Challenge.
One of the reasons for his reluctance to getting drenched, apart from his present condition, could be the lesser known fact that Hawking suffered from a severe bout of pneumonia last year. Interestingly, the Ice Bucket Challenge is much more nascent, and in its brief life-span, has managed to raise $95 million so far.
While Stephen Hawking partook in the Ice Bucket Challenge, he nominated Ian Blatchford, the director of The Science Museum, Lord Sainsbury, Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, and Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. Moreover, he urged watchers of the video to donate to the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA) to “eliminate this terrible disease.”
The ALS is a terrible disease that ravages the bodies of its victims. This terrible neuro-degenerative disease doesn’t have a cure yet – the supporters claim because large pharmaceutical companies are doing little. However, with backers like Stephen Hawking, hopefully the disease will get the attention it so desperately needs.
[Image Credit | Healthy Debates]
