Currently,roughly 30000 people in the united states are suffering from ALS in various stages.
The average life expectancy of a person with ALS is two to five years after diagnosis. The obstacles facing ALS researchers and fundraisers are formidable because the understanding of the desease and the fundraising are limited in small scope. However, after the former Boston College baseball star Pete Frates, 29, who has ALS, began posting about the challenge on Twitter, there was more and more awareness of this devastating disease that was posted to Facebook, Youtube, Twitter or dozens of other websites. Frates is a patient advocate who was awarded the Stephen Heywood Patients Today Award in 2012 for his fundraising and advocacy work. He is the inspiration behind the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.