The man who inspired the viral ice bucket challenge, which raises money to fight Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease), is a new dad. Pete Frates announced Sunday he and his wife, Julie, have a baby girl. "Little Lucy Frates has arrived and Mom, Dad and Lucy are perfect," Frates wrote on his Facebook page. Frates is a former Boston College baseball player who was diagnosed with the degenerative disease ALS in 2012, prompting his family and friends to come up with a creative way to get people excited about raising money for ALS research.
The ice bucket challenge gained incredible momentum through social media and contributed to the ALS Association raising more than $100 million during the month of August. Comparatively, the ALS Association raised $2.8 million during the same time period last year, according to their spokeswoman, Carrie Munk.
Frates wrote that baby Lucy's arrival was an "amazing blessing as the exclamation point to the miraculous month of August 2014!"
IN-DEPTH
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SOCIAL
— Elisha Fieldstadt