ROCKWALL, TX (November 4, 2014) While there may not have been a record-setting crowd in attendance at the mass ALS ice bucket challenge held in honor of local resident Clint Townsend, the event certainly helped in a big way to raise awareness and funds for some much-needed research on the deadly disease.
City officials including Rockwall and Fate mayors David Sweet and Lorne Megyesi and around 30 other people from the community showed up to get dowsed with some freezing cold ice water in the name of all those unfortunate enough to fall victim to Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), a crippling, currently incurable disease which slowly kills off the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. The effect causes the patient to lose the ability to perform everyday functions, such as eating, speaking, moving, and sadly enough, breathing.
Local resident Kim Townsend’s brother Clint was diagnosed with ALS eight years ago, and it was Clint alone that inspired her to try and break the world record of the largest ALS ice bucket challenge event. While the event, which occurred on Saturday, Oct. 25, at the Williams Middle School football field, didn’t draw near enough people to break the current world record of 428 people dumping ice water on their heads in St. Augustine, Florida on Aug. 23 of this year, Kim and her family felt that the people who did show up were there from the heart. They were there because they wanted to be there, because the event was special and had real purpose and meaning behind it.
“Personally, I have no regrets,” Kim said. “Regardless of whether or not 429 people came out on Saturday, we truly did inform a ton of people about what ALS is and raised a total of $1,676 for ALS research! I think that’s a major success!”
Clint seconded that opinion, adding that everyone he saw and met on Saturday was smiling, having fun, and made it a terrific success even without the massive crowds. Clint even joined in on the fun and had a small amount of ice water poured onto his lap (his lap was protected of course, but he still enjoyed it all the same). In fact, most everyone in attendance couldn’t escape from getting dowsed with freezing water.
Even more good news came after the event, as Clint qualified for a study called the Diaphragmatic Pacemaker Study which could benefit not only him but all ALS patients in the future. Clint has already outlived the average life expectancy of someone diagnosed with ALS (between two to five years) and still retains much of his outgoing and charismatic personality.
“I admire him greatly for his courage and optimism despite the gruesome progression of this disease that he faces,” Kim said. “He is a daily reminder of God’s grace and has been an inspiration to not only me, but anyone who meets him. He’s an incredible man, my brother. I am blessed beyond words with the family that God has given me.”
Story and photos by Austin Wells, Blue Ribbon News reporter.
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