A host of celebrities are taking ice bucket showers to raise awareness for James McCarthy’s crowdfunding campaign on Crowdfunder. Braving the chill for the inspirational campaign, soccer players, Darren Fletcher, Gary Neville and Paul Scholes, have all taken part to help James fulfill his dreams and now Cristiano Ronaldo has thrown the icy gauntlet to Beyonce, J-Lo and Lil Wayne after completing the challenge himself.
James, who is terminally ill with cancer, has a ‘bucket list’ of things he wants to do before he dies – and celebrities are helping him to achieve his dreams by putting videos of themselves getting an ice bucket shower – and nominating a person to do the same.
In March 2009 James had a car crash while driving on the motorway. He was cut out of the car, rushed to hospital and after having a number of test he was diagnosed with a brain tumor the size of a fist. James had emergency surgery to remove the full frontal left lobe of his brain.
After learning to walk, talk, read and write again he underwent 6 weeks of radiotherapy, all the while still managing to attend a kickboxing class once a week.
In September 2013 James started a masters degree at the University of Manchester but in June of this year, after a routine follow up scan James received the devastating news that the tumor had returned as a terminal grade 3/4 cancerous tumor.
The James McCarthy Foundation setup a Crowdfunder campaign to help James achieve his bucket list, the campaign has already raised over £11,000 smashing an initial target of £2,000.
So far James has smashed his £2k funding target and has raised over £11k from his Crowdfunder campaign and the fundraise is still going strong. The project has become an inspirational viral success after using the Ice Bucket Challenge as a social media hook to gain pledges and awareness of James and his plight.
Marketing manager at Crowdfunder, Graeme Roy, stated, “Not only is James’s campaign truly inspiring people to help him live his life to the fullest, he is also showing crowdfunders the world over how to run a brilliant campaign.
“Social media is key to running a successful campaign and by using a viral trend James has gathered an influential community around him to not only raise funds – but also vital awareness of his illness.”
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