BOSTON - A 27-year-old Massachusetts man died in a diving accident on Nantucket Island, hours after he raised $100,000 for a Lou Gehrig's disease charity in honor of his friend who inspired the ice-bucket challenge sensation.
Corey Griffin dived into the water at around 2 a.m. Saturday from the top of the building housing the Juice Guys ice cream shop, Nantucket police told CBS station WBZ.
An off-duty lifeguard was nearby and made several dives into the water before he was able to pull Griffin out, WBZ reported. Police performed CPR at the scene but Grffin was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Griffin, from Scituate, was a former Boston College hockey player, WBZ said.
Griffin's family told the Boston Globe that he was friends with former Boston College baseball player Pete Frates, whose family and friends launched the ice-bucket challenge to raise awareness and funds for charity.
Frates, 29, was diagnosed with the neurodegenerative disease, also known as ALS, in 2012. The movement has taken off around the country recently.
Griffin had been fundraising in Nantucket.
Entities 0 Name: Griffin Count: 4 1 Name: WBZ Count: 3 2 Name: Boston College Count: 2 3 Name: Nantucket Count: 2 4 Name: Boston Globe Count: 1 5 Name: Lou Gehrig Count: 1 6 Name: BOSTON Count: 1 7 Name: Nantucket Island Count: 1 8 Name: CBS Count: 1 9 Name: Grffin Count: 1 10 Name: Juice Guys Count: 1 11 Name: Frates Count: 1 12 Name: Corey Griffin Count: 1 13 Name: Pete Frates Count: 1 14 Name: Scituate Count: 1 15 Name: Massachusetts Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/1yGoi0D Title: Stricken with ALS, Pete Frates, closely linked Ice Bucket Challenge, shows will to live - The Boston Globe Description: Pete Frates, whose name is now inextricably linked with Ice Bucket Challenge and ALS, can no longer speak, walk, or move his arms. But he still has got a smile and the will to live, despite the incurable neurodegenerative disease that has robbed the former athlete of so much.