The Dangers Of The Ice Bucket Challenge

The Ice Bucket Challenge is for a wonderful cause. It is to raise awareness for ALS, or “Lou Gehrig’s Disease,” which is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. To raise awareness for this, people across the country are dumping buckets of ice cold water over their heads as well as donating money to ALS. In fact, my entire family has participated in the Ice Bucket Challenge.

The dangers of the Ice Bucket Challenge
However, there are some dangers that go along with this challenge. One of the most common dangers is dropping the bucket or large container of ice water on someone’s head. We all know that a large container of water is heavy, so we try to make it easier by already having the water above someone’s head and ready to pour. An example of this is when the person who is going to pour the ice water is standing on the deck, while the individual who is getting the water poured on them is under the deck. This sounds safe enough, right? Well, not so much. Unfortunately, the person pouring the water could lose their grip on the container and drop it right on the person’s head.

Related: Traumatic Brain Injury

Throwing the bucket
Another danger is someone accidentally throwing the bucket of water at you instead of dumping the water on you. This may seem harmless, but there is a lot of force behind that bucket. Also, the person doing the Ice Bucket Challenge may have their eyes closed in anticipation of the water coming at them. This means they won’t be ready for the bucket or container of ice water to be thrown at them.

What injuries can the Ice Bucket Challenge cause?
These accidents could cause head or even brain injury. If you or someone you know gets a bucket dropped or thrown at them, please make sure no one got hurt. However, even if they say they are not hurt, we would recommend going to see a doctor just to make sure there aren’t any injuries. Head and brain injuries may go unnoticed because there may not be any physical injuries like scratches. If a head or brain injury goes untreated, it could lead to major complications like vision or memory problems.

Please be careful if you participate in the Ice Bucket Challenge. You could help prevent injuries by not filling the ice bucket up all the way to make it lighter. If the bucket is heavy, you could have a couple of people lift it and dump the water. We definitely want to raise awareness for ALS, but we also want everyone to be safe. Call our Louisville personal injury lawyer if you’ve been injured.