Champion of the Ice Bucket Challenge
The man who helped launch the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, which swept social media during the summer of 2014, died in New York City at age 37.
A month after his 30th birthday, Patrick Quinn received the life-altering diagnosis that he had Lou Gehrig's disease.
“Immediately after he was diagnosed, he wanted to make a difference in the ALS community,” reads a statement on the ALS Association website.
In July 2014, along with Anthony Senerchia and Pete Frates, who both lived with and died from the disease in 2017 and 2019 respectively, Quinn launched the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.
Quinn and Frates had seen Senerchia do the Ice Bucket Challenge online. They created their own ice-bucket videos and shared the challenge with their followers.
The fundraising phenomenon that then swept social media saw people film themselves dumping buckets of ice cold water on themselves. In the video, that person would call out the names of other people they challenged to do the same.
Thousands of people participated in the viral trend, including celebrities, sports stars and politicians — even Donald Trump before the 2016 presidential el ection and cartoon character Homer Simpson. Online videos were viewed millions of times. Participants raised more than US$220 million worldwide in just six weeks to fund ALS research.
“It dramatically accelerated the fight against ALS, leading to new research discoveries, expanded care for people living with ALS, and significant investment from the government in ALS research,” the statement reads.
“Pat fought ALS with positivity and bravery and inspired all around him. Those of us who knew him are devastated but grateful for all he did to advance the fight against ALS,” it said.
The Quinn for the Win Facebook page also 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.”
Condolences for Quinn, born Feb. 8, 1983 in Yonkers, N.Y., flooded social media after news of his death broke.
“We will miss seeing Pat's amazing work. He fought this disease with courage, kindness and creativity, seemingly always with a smile. He was a huge inspiration to us,” the Duke ALS Clinic wrote on Twitter.
There is no cure for ALS.