Patrick Quinn Dies: Co-Founder Of ALS Ice Bucket Challenge Was 37

Dino-Ray Ramos
·2 min read

Patrick Quinn, who is best known for co-founding the Ice Bucket Challenge, had died after a battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The aforementioned Ice Bucket Challenge was viral campaign that brought awareness to ALS, which is commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. He was 37.

The Quinn for the Win Facebook page posted the news of Quinn’s death: “It is with great sadness that we must share the passing of Patrick early this morning. He was a blessing to us all in so many ways. We will always remember him for his inspiration and courage in his tireless fight against ALS.”

Quinn, a New York native, was diagnosed with ALS on March 8, 2013. In the summer of 2014, Quinn co-founded the Ice Bucket Challenge with Pete Frates after they saw professional golfer Chris Kennedy posted a video of himself on social media that featured his wife’s cousin Jeanette Senerchia, whose husband had ALS, dumping a bucket of ice water on his head. He asked others to do the same or to make a donation to charity. Quinn and Frates bolstered the challenge and it became a social media sensation. Unfortunately, Frates, who also had ALS died last year.

“The Ice Bucket challenge dramatically accelerated the fight against ALS, leading to new research discoveries, expansion of care for people with ALS, and greater investment by the government in ALS research,” wrote the official ALS Association Twitter account. “Pat continued to raise awareness and funds for the fight against ALS and our thoughts are with the Quinn family and all of his friends and supporters. Pat was loved by many of us within the ALS community and around the world. He will be missed, but he will continue to inspire us until we have a world without ALS. ”

Ice Bucket Challenge participants from the media world included Oprah Winfrey, LeBron James, Will Smith, Dwayne Johnson, Vin Diesel, Lady Gaga, Ben Stiller, Amy Schumer, Chris Pratt, Conan O’Brien, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, among others. raised over The campaign $220 million for ALS medical research. Roughly 12,000 to 15,000 Americans may have ALS, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. An estimated 5% to 10% of ALS cases are believed to be hereditary, but the cause is unknown and there is no cure.

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