Ice Bucket Challenge money benefitting Islanders with ALS

Money raised from the Ice Bucket Challenge two years ago is having a positive impact on the Island, says the president of the ALS Society of P.E.I.

It was announced this week research funded by the challenge helped identify a new gene behind the disease.

• Ice Bucket Challenge credited with ALS gene discovery

• Ice Bucket Challenge raised $16.2M for ALS in Canada

But it's also allowing Islanders suffering from ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, to stay home with their loved ones instead of being at the hospital.

It just brought it home, how much it impacts the family, being able to be in the same house as your family, sharing meals ...- Bernie Plourde

"I remember one family telling a story about being able to stay home and see their children arrive home on the bus," said Bernie Plourde on CBCRadio's Island Morning. "Knowing that there's not as much hope as some other diseases, to see these small things, being able to share these moments."

Plourde said they've been able to purchase things like lifts, rails, wheelchairs, and machines that help people get rid of secretions in their throats.

'Going to your kid's graduation'

"I'm a father of two and it just brought it home, how much it impacts the family, being able to be in the same house as your family, sharing meals, we have machines that help with feedings.

"Going to your kid's graduation, you don't have a special van, well, we try to source that out. We can wheel them into convocation. If you were in the hospital, more than likely you wouldn't be able to participate."

P.E.I. received $70,000

P.E.I. received about $70,000 worth of donations, Plourde said.

"When people donated to ALS sometimes they would donate as a resident to P.E.I. and they said they wanted to donate right to the P.E.I. society," he said.

The final tally across Canada was $16.2 million. About $10 million went into research, and the Canadian government matched it with another $10 million. About $6 million went to programs that deliver support to Canadians living with ALS.

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