Ice Bucket Challenge Co-Creator Patrick Quinn Dies at Age 37

Patrick Quinn, whose personal battle with ALS helped power the Ice Bucket Challenge fundraising campaign, died on Sunday at age 37. (Reuters)
Patrick Quinn, whose personal battle with ALS helped power the Ice Bucket Challenge fundraising campaign, died on Sunday at age 37. (Reuters)
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Ice Bucket Challenge Co-Creator Patrick Quinn Dies at Age 37

Patrick Quinn, whose personal battle with ALS helped power the Ice Bucket Challenge fundraising campaign, died on Sunday at age 37. (Reuters)
Patrick Quinn, whose personal battle with ALS helped power the Ice Bucket Challenge fundraising campaign, died on Sunday at age 37. (Reuters)

Patrick Quinn, whose personal battle with ALS helped power the Ice Bucket Challenge fundraising campaign, died on Sunday at age 37, seven years after his diagnosis, supporters announced on Facebook.

Quinn, who was born and grew up in Yonkers, New York, was co-founder of the campaign that raised more than $220 million for medical research into amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, his Facebook page said.

He was diagnosed with ALS on March 8, 2013, according to his Facebook page.

“It is with great sadness that we must share the passing of Patrick early this morning,” his supporters said on Facebook. “We will always remember him for his inspiration and courage in his tireless fight against ALS.”

Condolences to the Quinn family poured in on social media, with many expressing gratitude for the spotlight he drew to the disease and the need to find a cure.

The Ice Bucket Challenge went viral on social media in the summer of 2014, when people around the world posted videos and photos of themselves dumping buckets of ice water on their heads and challenging others to do the same while urging donations for ALS research.

Roughly 12,000 to 15,000 Americans may have ALS, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. An estimated 5% to 10% of ALS cases are believed to be hereditary, but the cause is unknown and there is no cure.

Among Quinn’s many honors for raising awareness of ALS and promoting research was a nomination with fellow ALS activist Peter Frates as “Person of the Year” by Time magazine. Frates died last year at age 34, seven years after his diagnosis.



Brazil Fires Drive Acceleration in Amazon Deforestation

Illegal burning of the Amazon rainforest near Humaita, in the northern Brazilian state of Amazonas, in September 2024. MICHAEL DANTAS / AFP/File
Illegal burning of the Amazon rainforest near Humaita, in the northern Brazilian state of Amazonas, in September 2024. MICHAEL DANTAS / AFP/File
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Brazil Fires Drive Acceleration in Amazon Deforestation

Illegal burning of the Amazon rainforest near Humaita, in the northern Brazilian state of Amazonas, in September 2024. MICHAEL DANTAS / AFP/File
Illegal burning of the Amazon rainforest near Humaita, in the northern Brazilian state of Amazonas, in September 2024. MICHAEL DANTAS / AFP/File

A record fire season in Brazil last year caused the rate of deforestation to accelerate, in a blow to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's pledge to protect the Amazon rainforest, official figures showed Friday.

The figures released by the National Institute for Space Research (INPE), which tracks forest cover by satellite, indicated that deforestation rate between August 2024 and May 2025 rose by 9.1 percent compared to the same period in 2023-2024, said AFP.

And they showed a staggering 92-percent increase in Amazon deforestation in May, compared to the year-ago period.

That development risks erasing the gains made by Brazil in 2024, when deforestation slowed in all of its ecological biomes for the first time in six years.

The report showed that beyond the Amazon, the picture was less alarming in other biomes across Brazil, host of this year's UN climate change conference.

In the Pantanal wetlands, for instance, deforestation between August 2024 and May 2025 fell by 77 percent compared to the same period in 2023-2024.

Presenting the findings, the environment ministry's executive secretary Joao Paulo Capobianco chiefly blamed the record number of fires that swept Brazil and other South American countries last year, whipped up by a severe drought.

Many of the fires were started to clear land for crops or cattle and then raged out of control.