New Delhi: One of the pioneers of the Ice Bucket Challenge, a fund-raising phenomenon that has gone viral online, has drowned in an accident in the US, police say.
Corey Griffin, 27, had just attended an event to raise awareness and money for the motor neuron disease ALS when he was involved in a diving accident in Nantucket, Massachusetts, last week.
At about 2am he dove off a building at Straight Wharf in Nantucket before floating to the surface and then sinking without a trace.
Off-duty Nantucket lifeguard Colin Perry managed to recover Griffin from the bottom of the harbour and he was taken to Nantucket Cottage Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 3am.
Michael Greeley, a friend of Griffin and a spokesman for his family, said Griffin suffered two crushed vertebrae in the accident.
Griffin's father, Robert Griffin, told the Boston Globe that his son was tortured by his friend Pete Frates's ordeal with the incurable neurodegenerative disease and vowed to help.
Inspired by Frates, a friend who was diagnosed with ALS, a neurodegenerative disease, Griffin had launched the ice bucket challenge to raise awareness and funds for the disease.
The ice bucket challenge that involves participants to accept a previous participant's challenge within 24 hours or donate $100 to the ALS Association proved to be an instant hit.
Celebrities from David Beckham and Taylor Swift, to former US presidents like George Bush also participated in the challenge.
So far, the ALS Association has received $31.5 million in donations from July 29 to August 20, compared to $1.9 million in the same period last year.
