After nominations  from Scott, Jay from Middlesex London EMS & Jenn I finally took the  #IceBucketChallenge myself!  I was a little reluctant to do this, let me tell you, and not because I was afraid of of this challenge.  I don’t very often back away from a challenge and this was no different!  Pouring some ice water over my head is really no big deal for me!  I was more concerned with being a bandwagon joiner!  The more I thought about it, though, the more I realized that I could help raise awareness and money  of this devastating disease (here are the symptoms and some personal stories of living with ALS).

I decided to do it while all I was at my brothers house for a birthday party.  That way I could get all my nieces and nephews as well as my children to participate.  I knew they would get a kick out of it and it was also a chance to demonstrate to them how easy it is to raise awareness of something important.  I also had the chance to explain to them what ALS is and how it affects the people living with it .  They didn’t  totally understand all of it however but the I was able to see the concern in their faces.

We gathered all the kids (6 of them)  in the kitchen to fill the buckets with the ice and water.  We picked our spot where we could get good light so you all could see it since it was getting dark.  I said my piece and had the kids dump two buckets on me.  It was very refreshing!  Initially is does take your breath away but it really isn’t that bad!  The kids had  a blast and after they all started doing it to themselves!  As a note it appears in the video that there was no ice in the pots but let me assure you there was.  I think my problem was that we added the ice to early.  If you’ve ever tried to set something up with a group of kids all under 10yrs old you can relate with me when I tell you it takes 10x longer than you expect!  So the ice was there it had just melted and got quite small.  I know this because it was all scattered across the deck and the kids began to throw it at each other and fill up their own containers and use it again on themselves!

See for yourself:

I have called out Carrie Burrows, Jodi Earle and Rob van Mil and I am really looking forward to watching their videos.  Get out there start donating and encouraging others to do so as well.  I’d also love to see your videos so let me know when you’ve posted it by putting the link in the comments section!  When you post your video the folks at the ALS society have asked that you use the following hashtags #IceBucketChallenge #ALSIceBucketChallenge #StrikeOutAls.  Please visit the ALS Canada website to donate as well as find out more information.

Here are the videos nominating me!

Jays video

Jenns video

http://www.instagram.com/p/sBD9kRxkGR/