If you’ve visited facebook anytime recently then you will no
doubt have come across a video or two of friends dousing themselves in ice cold
water. The ice bucket challenge is a
campaign with the aim of raising awareness of, and funding for, Amyotrophic
lateral sclerosis (ALS), or as it is often referred to in the U.K., Motor
Neurone Disease (MND). In the past
weeks the challenge has gone viral with millions putting themselves through
mild discomfort, with the hope of fulfilling these aims. The campaign, however,
has not been without its critics, so I felt compelled to write this and perhaps
shed light on a few misconceptions, and say why I think the ice bucket
challenge has in part been a great success, but why it is also likely to be a
short lived one.
