Co-founder of ALS Ice Bucket Challenge Anthony Senerchia Jr. Dies at the Age 46

On Saturday, Anthony Senerchia, Jr., one of the co-founders of the ice bucket challenge died of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Senerchia lived with the rare disease for 14 years, before passing away at the age of 46.

In 2014, Senerchia’s wife Jeanette posted a video on Facebook of herself dumping a bucket of water over her head to raise money for The Anthony Senerchia Jr. ALS Charitable Foundation. The challenge took off after Pete Frates, a former baseball star at Boston College, who was also diagnosed with ALS, shared his own version of the video.

Seventeen million people participated in the challenge, with 2.5 million people donating $115 million to the ALS Association that year.

The money raised from the ice bucket challenge helped researchers discover a gene tied to 3 percent of ALS cases.

The Anthony Senerchia Jr. ALS Charitable Foundation will continue to give 100 percent of donations to research and families affected by the disease.

Photo from The Anthony Senerchia Jr. ALS Charitable Foundation and by Anthony Quintano