ALS Ice Bucket Challenge Co-Founder Pat Quinn Hears His Own Recreated Voice For the First Time

ALS has lost this round

In 2013, a young man in Boston named Pat Quinn had just received a devastating diagnosis of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). In the summer of 2014, Pat and his friends co-founded the immensely popular Ice Bucket Challenge, which raised a record amount of donations going toward the ALS Association. With his newfound popularity, Pat became a vociferous advocate, speaking to audiences about the disease from his point of view. Sadly, as the disease took hold, Pat lost his ability to speak, despite all that he wants to say. With this in mind, the magnificent people with the ALS Association’s Project Revoice recreated a usable vocabulary for Pat by cloning his voice from interviews and speeches, which he heard for the very first time.

As co-founder of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, Pat Quinn helped give the global ALS community a voice, until the disease robbed him of his own. This is the story of how he got it back.

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.