Pete Frates, the recipient of the 2017 NCAA Inspiration Award who died Dec. 9 at age 34, inspired millions to join his fight against the disease that would take his life.
In July 2014, two years after Frates was diagnosed with ALS, he popularized the Ice Bucket Challenge with a video that went viral: He bobbed his head to Vanilla Ice’s “Ice Ice Baby” and called on others to commit to a dousing with a bucket of ice water and a pledge to the ALS Association. (“Ice water and ALS are a bad mix,” Frates’ video caption explains.)
Celebrities ranging from Bill Gates to Oprah Winfrey completed the challenge. By September, the ALS Association reported it had raised over $100 million to fight the progressive nervous system illness, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, that causes a loss of muscle control. Continued support in subsequent years suggests Frates’ work might have inspired donations of up to $220 million.
That work led the NCAA to present the Inspiration Award to the former Boston College outfielder, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in communications. The award is given to a coach, administrator, or current or former student-athlete who serves as a role model and offers hope and inspiration to others confronting a life-altering situation. It is typically presented at the NCAA Convention in January. But by the time of Frates’ honor — nearly five years after his diagnosis — he was unable to travel. NCAA President Mark Emmert was invited to the Frates family home in Beverly, Massachusetts, for the presentation.
When Emmert and other national office staff members arrived Dec. 16, 2016, the home was filled with media representatives, camera crews and the entire Boston College baseball team, including coaches and other athletics staff who wanted to witness the award presentation.
“Every inch of space upstairs and on the main level of the house was occupied,” says Monica Miller, NCAA associate director of communications for stakeholder engagement. “As we navigated through a narrow path in the crowded room to the back wall of their living room, the magnitude of this iconic moment set in.”
Frates entered the living room in his motorized wheelchair flanked by his wife, Julie, and young daughter, Lucy.
After the award presentation, well-wishers took turns congratulating Frates. The Boston College baseball team chatted him up and posed for a photo.
“The fact that you’ve touched all of these lives so much that they wanted to be here at this moment is pretty impressive. This is an incredible crowd,” Emmert said when presenting the award. “What you’ve been able to do to inspire so many people to support this cause is monumental. It is, in fact, an inspiration.”
