Ideas worth spreading

Meet the mom who started the Ice Bucket Challenge

1,105,909 views |

Nancy Frates |

TEDxBoston

• October 2014

Remember the Ice Bucket Challenge craze this summer? Meet the mom who started it all. When Nancy Frates's son Pete hurt his wrist in a baseball game, he got an unexpected diagnosis: it wasn’t a broken bone, it was ALS, and there is no cure. In this inspiring talk, Nancy tells the story of what happened next.

Remember the Ice Bucket Challenge craze this summer? Meet the mom who started it all. When Nancy Frates's son Pete hurt his wrist in a baseball game, he got an unexpected diagnosis: it wasn’t a broken bone, it was ALS, and there is no cure. In this inspiring talk, Nancy tells the story of what happened next.

This talk was presented to a local audience at TEDxBoston, an independent event. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Read more about TEDx.

Help fight ALS. Participate in a campaign to create a world without Lou Gehrig's disease.

About the speaker

Nancy Frates

Mother + ALS Advocate

See speaker profile

Nancy Frates and her family have raised a projected $160 million for ALS research in 2014. How? They kicked off the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge to honor 29-year-old Pete Frates.

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This talk was presented to a local audience at TEDxBoston, an independent event. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Read more about TEDx.

Help fight ALS. Participate in a campaign to create a world without Lou Gehrig's disease.