In a tragic, ironic accident, the 27-year-old co-founder of the “ALS Ice Bucket Challenge,” Corey Griffin, drowned over the weekend off the Massachusetts shore.
The Boston Globe reported that Griffin dove into the water off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts around 2:00 A.M. Saturday, August 16, from the top of Juice Guys on the Straight Wharf, a local spot popular for diving. Witnesses say he surfaced once, but was not seen again.
Only hours earlier, Griffin had helped raise $100,000 at a fundraiser for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), otherwise known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. He’d been raising money with and for a close friend, Pete Frates, who was diagnosed with ALS two years ago.
According to the Independent, Frates wrote on Facebook:
“Helping out was nothing new for Griff. He held his own event for me back in 2012, just a few months after diagnosis. He worked his butt off these last few weeks for ALS. We texted every day, planning and scheming ways to raise funds and plan events.”
Senior vice-president-regional manager of Boston Properties was quoted by the Boston Globe:
“He had an uncommon maturity about himself and understanding the responsibility of philanthropy. A lot of people in life watch the world spin by. He was someone who was making the world spin. This boy was really special.”
Friends and family members recount Griffin as an earnest, empathetic young man.
Corey’s brother, Mike Griffin stated:
“His biggest gift was that he didn’t just make you feel like you were the only guy in the room. He made you feel like you were the only guy in the world.”
The viral craze that has eaten up social media streams as of late has had thousands of participants, including such well known figures as Jimmy Fallon, Bill Gate, George W. Bush, Charlie Sheen, and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg. So far, the publicity stunt has helped raise more than $31 million in proceeds for the cause.
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H/T Salon.
Dylan Hock is a writer, professor, videographer and social activist. He earned an MFA in Writing from Naropa University in 2003 and has been an Occupier since Oct., 2011, both nationally and locally in Michigan. He is published in a number of little magazines and has an essay on the muzzling of Ezra Pound included in the anthology Star Power: The Impact Of Branded Celebrity forthcoming by Praeger August, 2014. He is also a contributing writer for Take Ten and Green Action News. Follow him on Google+! Hire him for freelance writing and editing projects through Elance.
