ALS at RCHK
It seems like the temperatures on the RCHK basketball courts took a plunge last Thursday, as three nominated teachers were each doused with a bucket of ice cold water.
Even RCHK has been caught up in the internet trend, the ALS ice bucket challenge.
ALS, or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis is a rare disease affecting the nerve cells in the spinal cord and brain. The nerve cells are killed, which results in a progressive deterioration in the ability to move the muscles in the body, in the later stages, even breathing can become difficult. ALS affects only around 2 in every 100,000 people but patients with ALS will almost certainly die, only 4% of the ALS patients survive longer than 10 years.There is no known cure for ALS, only drugs that can extend the life of patients.
The ice bucket challenge started with Pete Frates, a Bostonian who himself was diagnosed with ALS in 2012, and aims to raise awareness of ALS. After he posted a video of himself doing the challenge, it went viral and soon the rest of the world had joined in on the challenge. The trend has gone so far that most celebrities have undergone the challenge. Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift and many more have all gotten ice water over their heads, and now even three teachers at RCHK.
During Thursday lunchtime, the three teachers, Dr. Brown, Mr. Coventry and Ms. Sum were chosen by the RCHK community through donation boxes set up for each teacher. There had been earlier nominations consisting of twelve teachers, and the top three were chosen based on the highest amounts teachers received in their donation boxes.
“We thought that many people were just taking part in the ice bucket challenge to be part of a trend,” says Georgina Parry, one of the organisers of the RCHK ice bucket challenge together with Dawnie Lau, “By getting students to sponsor teachers to do the challenge, money could be raised while also spreading awareness about ALS. ” From the RCHK ice bucket challenge, $5450 HKD was raised, which was donated to both ALSA (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Association) and HKNMDA (Hong Kong Neuro-muscular Disease Association) for research and support for ALS patients.
Half of the money RCHK raised will be going to the 300 people who suffer from ALS in Hong Kong. Aside from RCHK, The HKNMDA has received $530,000 HKD in donations due to the ALS ice bucket challenges in Hong Kong, which is more than five times the donations they usually receive in a year. This money will largely go to supporting ALS patients and covering the cost of their equipment.
A survey was done to discover the stance of students at RCHK and the ice bucket challenge, with answers from 217 students. When asked if anyone knew about ALS before the challenge, most replied with “no knowledge” or “little knowledge”, only a few knew more. Out of 217 students, more than half of the students said they had been nominated for the ice bucket challenge, and less than half of the respondents said they had donated.
“I think that if you do the ALS ice bucket challenge, you also need to donate to a charity which supports ALS patients and tries to find a cure,” says Eva, a Year 11 student at RCHK, “Pouring a bucket of ice cold water should not be preferable to donating to a charity as many people have done. This raises awareness, but finding a cure is important too.”
To find out more about ALS, you can visit http://www.alsa.org/about-als/.
By Sim Hoestra
