Man Behind Ice Bucket Challenge Dies In Nantucket Harbor
He helped turn the #icebucketchallenge into an internet sensation, but after a night of fundraising in Nantucket, Corey Griffin died jumping into the harbor.
Nantucket Police told the Boston Globe that Griffin dove into the water from the roof of the "Juice Guys" building around 2 a.m. on Saturday and according to onlookers came floating to the surface before sinking again and disappearing under the water.
An off-duty lifeguard happened to be working nearby and made several dives to recover Griffin from the bottom of the harbor. Officers on the scene tried to resuscitate him until the fire department arrived to take him to Nantucket Cottage Hospital. He was pronounced dead at 3 a.m.
The 27-year-old had just raised $100,000 for Lou Gehrig's disease, a cause he was passionate about after his good friend Pete Frates was diagnosed with the neurodegenerative disease, also known as ALS, in 2012. Frates' friends and family were the ones who launched the Ice Bucket Challenge to raise funds and awareness for ALS.