DAVID GREENE, HOST:
So this next sound might bring back memories, maybe even a chilling sensation if you took part in the viral challenge of 2014.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
OPRAH WINFREY: I am ready for the ice now. (Screaming).
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Oprah Winfrey took part in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. More than 17 million other people did the same, having ice-cold water poured over their heads for a good cause.
GREENE: Pat Quinn was co-founder of the challenge. He died this weekend at the age of 37 years old. Quinn was diagnosed with ALS at the age of 30. And he became an activist for the neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord.
INSKEEP: The Ice Bucket Challenge that he created raised $220 million for research. Dr. John Landers of the University of Massachusetts Medical School has been working on developing therapeutics for ALS.
JOHN LANDERS: Many people that have done the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge often ask me, you know, do you think we'll ever find a cure? And if you were to ask me that question 15 years ago, I would say I don't see any way, shape or form we're going to get to that. If you ask me it today, I would say definitely.
GREENE: The challenge also brought awareness to what the disease is and also the impact it has on the lives of those living with it. Here's Pat Quinn from earlier this year after he had lost the power to speak. He's heard through a computerized voice.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PATRICK QUINN: Legacy, what an incredibly powerful word. The idea of legacy may bring your mind to death, but it's most certainly not about death. It's about creation. You create your legacy every day in the way you live and how you live.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
INSKEEP: And thanks to his legacy, research into ALS treatment continues. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.