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So far, the ice bucket challenge has raised over £3million for the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA), and now Stephen Hawking , a well-known sufferer, has completed the dare – with a twist.
The prominent physicist, who had a bout of pneumonia last year, said "it would not be wise for me to have a bucket of cold water pour over me… but my children Robert, Lucy and Tim gallantly volunteered to take the challenge for me."
He then urged everyone to donate to the MNDA to "eliminate this terrible disease".
In the family’s driveway, his offspring took on the challenge before Hawking , 72, nominated the Director of the Science Musem, Ian Blatchford and the Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University - Lord Sainsbury and Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz.
In pictures: The famous do the ice bucket challengeShow all 17 1 /17In pictures: The famous do the ice bucket challenge In pictures: The famous do the ice bucket challenge Dave Grohl Potentially the best one so far: Dave Grohl and the guys from Foo Fighters recreated the infamous scene from Carrie
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In pictures: The famous do the ice bucket challenge Lady Gaga Lady Gaga managed to keep an admirably straight face as she poured what looked like a solid silver bowl of cold water over herself
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In pictures: The famous do the ice bucket challenge Homer Simpson Fans were overjoyed when their favourite yellow cartoon character got involved in the campaign to raise money to help those suffering from ALS. As per usual with Homer Simpson, things escalated quickly
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In pictures: The famous do the ice bucket challenge Reece Witherspoon One of those who have arrived slightly late on the scene, actress Reece Witherspoon looks nervous but resolute as she has a bucket of ice-cold water chucked over her head
Instagram/Reece Witherspoon
In pictures: The famous do the ice bucket challenge Lily Allen Lily wore a bikini as she self-administered her bucket of icy water. She thanked Jess Glynne for the nomination, and passed the challenge onto Mark Ronson, Millie Mackintosh and rapper Giggs
Instagram/lilyallen
In pictures: The famous do the ice bucket challenge Daisy Lowe Celebrity ALS Ice Bucket Challenge videos seem to be coming in faster than we can watch them - model Daisy Lowe is one of the most recent to get involved. She was nominated by Sun journalist Dan Wooton, and passed it on to radio presenter Nick Grimshaw and Abbey Clancy
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In pictures: The famous do the ice bucket challenge Bill Gates One of the first to go viral on YouTube, Bill Gates had freezing water tipped over him in a bid to raise millions of dollars to fight the illness ALS
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In pictures: The famous do the ice bucket challenge George W. Bush It felt like quite an important moment when the former President of the United States accepted nominations from his daughter Jenna Bush Hager, golfing champion Rory McIlroy, Woody Johnson, and Jim Harbaugh. He nominated 'my friend Bill Clinton'
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In pictures: The famous do the ice bucket challenge Jimmy Fallon In an official letter this week, the ALS Association said: 'Never before have been in a better position to fuel our fight against this disease.'
NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
In pictures: The famous do the ice bucket challenge Tom Hiddleston Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis affects the brain and the spinal cord. Motor neurons degenerate and die which makes it increasingly difficult to move muscles
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In pictures: The famous do the ice bucket challenge Rita Ora There is no known cause of ALS, though there is a proven hereditary factor in some cases
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In pictures: The famous do the ice bucket challenge Taylor Swift There is also no known cure, though the millions being raised by the ALS association will go towards researching these great unknowns
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In pictures: The famous do the ice bucket challenge Oprah Winfrey The illness is also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, named after the all-time great baseball player from the early 20th Century whose time at the top ended when he was stricken with the illness in 1939
In pictures: The famous do the ice bucket challenge Mark Zuckerberg The Facebook founder is unarguably the master of the challenge, who – following his drenching – saunters off
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In pictures: The famous do the ice bucket challenge Justin Bieber Bieber's first attempt was pretty naff: he didn’t quite get it and decided not to use ice or a bucket to complete the challenge. Obviously, the internet moaned at him and he was brilliantly peer pressured into having another go
Swaggy Bieber/Youtube
In pictures: The famous do the ice bucket challenge Justin Timberlake Celebrities have been nominating one another to do the challenge
In pictures: The famous do the ice bucket challenge Christiano Ronaldo and Marcelo The challenge is now making its way over to this side of the Atlantic, former Manchester United players Paul Scholes and Gary Neville both doused themselves in cold water for a terminally ill fan
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MNDA is the British equivalent of the ALS Association in the US, which has so far received $95million in donations since the viral and organic ice bucket challenge took off at the end of the last month.
Hawking was diagnosed with motor neurone disease at the age of 21 and had been given just two years to live.
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