Bush takes ice bucket challenge

WASHINGTON: Former president George W Bush took the so-called Ice Bucket Challenge in support of Lou Gehrig's disease research Wednesday, and challenged his Democratic predecessor Bill Clinton to do the same.
"To you all that challenged me, I do not think it's presidential for me to be splashed with ice water," Bush said while sitting on a sunny porch dressed in a t-shirt.
"So I'm simply gonna write you a cheque," he added in a video posted on YouTube.
His wife Laura then appeared and doused Bush in icy cold water. The former president, who served from 2001 to 2009, let out a loud "oww" in shock and pain.
"That cheque is from me, I don't wanna ruin my hairstyle," Laura Bush said, bucket in hand.
And Bush then nominated Clinton to be next. "Yesterday was Bill's birthday and my gift to Bill is a bucket of cold water," he said.
Meanwhile, the co-founder of the challenge has died from drowning, The Boston Globe reported Wednesday.
The 27-year-old philanthropist Corey Griffin drowned after jumping off the roof of a two-storey building into the harbour in Massachussetts, it said.
Griffin played a key role in turning the ice bucket challenge into an viral sensation. – AFP/dpa