Akio Toyoda Does the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge
Along with leading Toyota and being a passionate racecar driver, Akio Toyoda is a class act.
Now, if you’ve been online in the last week, you’ve seen plenty of people take the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge to raise money and awareness for ALS. In this clip, standing in front of the Gazoo Racing LFA, Toyoda speaks of losing a colleague at Toyota to the disease and takes the plunge, which he endures without batting an eyelash. Post-bath he calls out Nissan vice chairman Toshiyuki Shiga, Toyota dealer association chairman Kanetaka Hisatsune and Sparx Group president Shuhei Abe.
Even before the IBC, you’ve most likely heard of ALS–even if you didn’t know it. The condition was commonly called Lou Gehrig’s disease after the legendary Yankee who was stricken the 1930s. Here’s a description of the debilitating disorder from the official ALS Association website:
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that 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.
It’s fair to note here that you don’t have to actually make a video or have ice water pulled over your head to add to the organization’s coffers. Head to this link to help eradicate ALS.
