Juan Sepúlveda Larancuente, Puerto Rican Man With ALS, Challenges Pope Francis To The #IceBucketChallenge [VIDEO]

This is one of the most special #IceBucketChallenge videos we’ve seen so far. Juan Sepúlveda Larancuente, a Puerto Rican man who suffers from ALS, took the challenge upon him and although he is bed-ridden, that didn’t stop him from raising awareness for the disease affecting his life. His bed was covered with a waterproof blanket and of course, he had help of people pouring the water on him. He took the opportunity to challenge Pope Francis, singer Chayanne and comedian Raymond Arrieta.

By now, you’ve probably seen most of your social media friends dumping ice water buckets on themselves. This initiative has gone viral to promote ALS awareness. ALS stands for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, a progressive neurodegenerative disease with no treatment and no cure. It was first found in 1869 by French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot, but it wasn’t until 1939 that Lou Gehrig brought national and international attention to the disease. ALS ended the career of one of the most beloved baseball players of all time, and the disease is still most closely associated with his name.

According to the ALS Association website, ALS affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to their death. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed.

The whole point with the Ice Bucket Challenge flooding our newsfeed, is involving people to get doused with buckets of ice water on video, posting that video to social media, then nominating others to do the same, all in an effort to raise ALS awareness. Those who refuse to take the challenge are asked to make a donation to the ALS charity of their choice. However, you are encouraged to donate even if you dump the ice water bucket on your head.

Scroll down to see Juan Sepúlveda Larancuente, suffering from ALS, take the Ice Bucket challenge like a pro!