Ice Bucket Challenge Co-Founder Corey Griffin 27 Is Dead: Drowns In A Car Accident

The ice bucket challenge frenzy that has hit the social was founded by this young man who passed away on Aug. 16.

Corey Griffin passed away in a Nantucket, Mass. diving accident just hours after he left a fundraiser where he reportedly raised $100,000 for ALS research. He was only 27 years old.

For those who do not know the meaning of ALS, it is short for {Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, it is a neurodegenerative disease with various causes. It is characterised by muscle spasticity, rapidly progressive weakness due to muscle atrophy, difficulty in speaking (dysarthria), swallowing (dysphagia), and breathing (dyspnea). ALS is the most common of the five motor neuron diseases.



Corey was a close friend of Pete Frates, 29, a man diagnosed with ALS in 2012 whose loved ones first launched the ice bucket challenge to raise money and awareness for ALS research. Corey helped pioneer the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, which has gone viral and raised millions of dollars for the cause.

After leaving a fundraiser for ALS, Corey dove off a building at Straight Wharf in Nantucket at 2 a.m. on Aug. 16 and drowned, according to the Boston Globe. “He floated to the surface, then he sank. He did not come up again,” the report says. Corey was pronounced dead at 3 a.m. He had helped raise $100,000 for ALS research on the night of his death.

Pete has spoken out about his friend Corey’s sad death.

“Team FrateTrain lost a good friend today, Corey Griffin. 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 everyday, planning and scheming ways to raise funds and plan events,” Pete posted on his Facebook page.

Corey leaves behind his mother, father, one brother and one sister, according to CBS Boston.

The Ice Bucket Challenge has raised $22.9 million for ALS research, according to the ALS Association website. People from across the world continue to donate and engage in the challenge to raise awareness and money for the cause.