The ALS Association says a man credited as one of the co-founders of the viral “Ice Bucket Challenge” that swept social media in 2014 has died after a yearslong battle with the condition known as Lou Gerhig’s disease. Anthony Senerchia was 46.
The Anthony Senerchia Jr ALS Charitable Foundation website says the Pelham, New York, native died. In a video released by the ALS Association, Senerchia’s wife, Jeanette, discusses how she helped launch the challenge by dumping a bucket of icy water on herself in 2014 and posting the video to Facebook.
The challenge really took off when it reached friends of Pete Frates, a former baseball star at Boston College who was also fighting ALS. Senerchia’s bucket was put on display at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington last year.
