Hello Bonnyville! Last week I participated in what ended up being one of the many highlights of my time in this town thus far, as I accepted my nomination and had my entire body soaked in freezing cold water courtesy of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.
Some of you may have noticed the updates sent out on the Nouvelle's Facebook page last week, notifying you initially that I would be taking on the challenge and progressing as the challenge itself progressed from me being showered by a single relatively large sized bucket, to a 100-litre barrel being dumped over me as well.
Now, I'll be honest with you, leading up to the dunking I wasn't too concerned because I'm a warm blooded individual who usually enjoys all things cold. I'm that slightly weird person who sleeps with the window open every night no matter what, even in the wintertime. I'm that guy that takes cold showers even after getting drenched playing a 90-minute soccer game in the rain, so the ice bucket challenge was something I may have even been looking forward to.
That all changed though the second Town of Bonnyville Coun. Ray Prevost and MD of Bonnyville Coun. Mike Krywiak dumped that first bucket of ice and water over my head. Boy was it cold!
As I recovered though and got back into the swing of things at the office, I realized just how awesome taking part in this challenge was. I'll admit, when I was initially nominated by family back in the UK, I just saw this as an opportunity to throw some water over my head and nominate some of my friends to do the same.
After sitting down and actually reading into the cause I was doing all of this for, it dawned on me just how important taking part in this challenge should be. ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a neurodegenerative disease that leads to muscle spasticity, rapidly progressive weakness due to muscle atrophy and difficulty in speaking, swallowing and breathing. Basically, it's a disease that typically renders its victims incapable of doing the many things you and I take for granted on a daily basis.
Upon reading and learning this, I decided I'd try to do my bit to raise funds towards researching this crippling disease and challenged each and every one of you to help me. Well Bonnyville, once again you did not disappoint as you helped me raise well over $300, with more donations still flowing in.
Although the after effects of the challenge left me suffering with a considerable head cold, it was well worth it to see the community rallying together once again for a worthy cause. I thank each and every one of you that donated and helped me surpass my initial goal of raising $200. I thank Sal Naim and the individuals at Sonny's Liquor Store for providing me with enough ice to fill my 100-litre bucket, and more.
For those of you that have been nominated for the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge and haven't already participated, or for those of you that have seen the videos online and don't understand why people are throwing copious amounts of ice cold water over their head, do a little reading and get involved in this great, great cause! ALS is a disease that can hit anybody at anytime, lets do our part to ensure those fighting to come up with a cure for the disease have all the means they need to do so.
