Let me tell you about my hero, the man who beat ALS

By Dan Calabrese —— Bio and Archives August 25, 2014

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A lot of people were surprised when this Ice Bucket Challenge thing started because I wasn’t really that jazzed about doing it – and it’s not because I care about the ice water.

Given my personal connection to it (which you're about to hear all about), you'd think I'd jump all over something like this. To be honest, though, that's sort of the reason I was ambivalent. Was dumping a bucket of ice water over my head really an appropriate way to honor a man as great as my grandfather? It seemed a little silly to me, and I'm not a big fan of these "raising awareness" campaigns - especially when the person getting doused with ice water is the more compelling memory than anything you learn about ALS. Still, I desperately want to see this disease vanquished, and if it takes something like this to raise the money that might conceivably lead to the cure, I think my grandpa just might have been the first to stand under the bucket. So with all that said - not to mention the fact that my mother wanted me to - I'd like to ask you to give me a few minutes so I can tell you about my hero, about the man who beat ALS. And why I say he beat it. Then you can see me get a bucket of ice water thrown over my head.