Man Who Made ALS Ice Bucket Challenge Go Viral Welcomes Newborn Baby

Pete Frates -- a former college athlete with ALS -- is the man credited with making the ice bucket challenge go viral. Now, Frates has something else to celebrate as he is the father of a newborn baby girl.

Frates' wife, Julie, gave birth to daughter, Lucy Fitzgerald Frates, on Sunday, according to CBS Boston. The newborn weighed 7 pounds and 8 ounces.

The family wrote on their Facebook page that the newest addition to their family was an "amazing blessing" and "the exclamation point to the miraculous month of August 2014!"

Frates' father, John, said that before seeing the baby, Frates felt nervous, as many first-time fathers do.

"Prior to the actual delivery, he had that, kind of, first-time-dad, deer-in-the-headlights look," John told WCVB. "After the baby was born, he just had that golden glow."

The former baseball player was diagnosed with ALS at 27. Though the disease has advanced quickly, and Frates, now 29, has become paralyzed, his father hopes that Frates and his wife can make many memories alongside their newborn daughter.

"These are just two young people starting out their life, and we really want to see them live a long happy life together," John told WCVB.

According to the Associated Press, the ice bucket challenge first gained speed earlier this summer, when Frates' friends and family embraced it to raise awareness for Lou Gehrig's disease. In early August, his parents were among 200 people who took the challenge in Boston's Copley Square, and Frates himself took the plunge on Aug. 14. On Tuesday, the ALS Association reported that they have received $106 million in donations from the challenge.

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