Housekeepers Tom Dean and Colin Bateman pour buckets of ice water over co-worker Mark SpearingHousekeepers Tom Dean and Colin Bateman pour buckets of ice water over co-worker Mark Spearing in a bid to boost the fight against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

UWindsor staffer takes ice water shower for charity

“Well, I’ve done my good deed for the day,” housekeeper Mark Spearing said Tuesday, moments after enduring a blast of ice water as one of the latest participants in the Ice Bucket Challenge.

Spearing, who cleans the Biology Building, pledged a donation to the fight against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a neurodegenerative disease. He had been issued the challenge by a close friend in a phenomenon that has swept the continent in recent weeks, credited with generating millions of dollars for the ALS Association in the US and Canada.

Spearing said he enjoyed the experience, although he’s not in a hurry to repeat it.

“It’s a shock,” he said. “I had fun with it—after the first two seconds.”

He also extended the challenge to three others, including fellow UWindsor housekeeper Jane Menard and president Alan Wildeman. Wildeman announced he will accept the challenge by making a donation in memory of late UWindsor president Ron Ianni, who lost his life to the illness in 1997.

“It’s a good cause,” said Spearing. “I hope it keeps rolling.”

ALS is also known as “Lou Gehrig’s disease” after the Hall of Fame baseball player who died of the disease in 1941. Learn more about ALS Canada’s Ice Bucket Challenge on the charity’s website.

Speaing gets ice water dumped on him