BEING doused with icy water would have been out of the question for many Ballarat residents on Monday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
However, the worldwide social media phenomenon raising money for motor neurone disease research struck some of Ballarat's media personalities on Monday morning, with The Courier editor Andrew Eales and WIN Television news presenter Bruce Roberts joining forces to raise more than $1000.
The freezing task was especially close to Mr Robert's heart with his grandmother, Sandy Vale, dying from the disease.
"If we don't raise awareness and we don't research to solve motor neurone disease, people we know and love will continue to die," he said.
"I know it has become a clich internationally, but it is a genuine cause, so it would be a shame if people's despair about it becoming a clich was greater than the cause itself."
Mr Roberts was a witness to his grandmother's slow decline from the disease. He remembers his grandmother using a vacuum pump to stop her choking while eating meals.
"When you put her to bed, you wouldn't know if you would see her alive in the morning," he said.
"I wanted to raise as much money for the cause as I could rather than just tipping a bucket of icy water over your head."
Angela Trainor, of Simplex Insurance Solutions, also joined the pair on Lydiard Street North for the cause.
To raise extra money for the water pouring, Mr Roberts auctioned the opportunity to pour the water over his head at the Commerce Ballarat Business Excellence Awards.
The lucky bidder was City of Ballarat councillor Vicki Coltman, who seemed to enjoy the opportunity to mess up Mr Robert's normally immaculate hair.