Corey Griffin dies, ALS ice bucket challenge creator drowns in Massachusetts. Griffin, the friend of Pete Frates who suffers from ALS, dies after jumping from the top of Juice Guys restaurant into the water. Griffin had just raised $100,000 to fight ALs via the #IceBucketChallenge fundraiser, which has gone viral.
Corey Griffin, the man behind the viral campaign to raise money to fight ALS dies at the age of 27.
Saturday morning Corey C. Griffin and a handful of friends were on Nantucket island located about 30 miles south of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
The group took part in an extraordinary fundraiser where they collected $100,000 in donations to battle ALS.
Griffin and several others had created the Ice Bucket Challenge in honor of their good friend Pete Frates who is struggling with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as ALS.
The businessman spoke to his father Robert Griffin after the charity event and explained how happy he was to help Frates, a former baseball player who has been fighting the illness for two years now.
After the conversation, the activist and animal lover decided to jump from the top of the “Juice Guys” (a two-story building that visitors have a habit of jumping off) on Straight Wharf into the Atlantic Ocean.
According to a witness, the former Bain Capital manager, appeared on the surface of the water briefly, sank and never reappeared.
Colin Perry who is a lifeguard jumped in the ocean and it took him several dives to recover Griffin’s body.
The pioneer of the viral ALS Ice Bucket Challenge was rushed to the Nantucket Cottage Hospital in Massachusetts, and died at around 3AM.
In a statement, Pete Frates from Team Frate Train said the director of strategic initiatives at RANE had been working hard to raise money for the cause since 2012.
Frates went on to explain that Griffin called him everyday to check on him and to work on ideas on how to better get the message to the world.
He concluded by saying that him and his family will miss the “good hearted man who cared about everyone.”
Griffin’s ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has become a movement on social media.
An amazing number of celebrities from Charlie Sheen to Hugh Jackman, Rooney Mara, Oprah, Zac Brown Band, Keri Washington, One Direction, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg have all accepted the challenge.
LeBron James and Justin Bieber were even audacious enough to ask President Barack Obama to take the Ice Bucket Challenge – the White House declined to comment on the challenges.
The ALS Association will forever be grateful for Corey Griffin’s effort for they have raised $15.6 million in August.
