It may be two years since the Ice Bucket Challenge went viral on social media and although the world's attention has waned, more Australians are dying of motor neurone disease than ever before.
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Less than a year ago, Clare Vickery was a fully functioning person.
The mother of two balanced a full-time job in the Australian Public Service alongside raising her young family with husband Chris.
That was until late last year when a colleague noticed a slight change in her voice.
Six months and dozens of test later, Clare was officially diagnosed with MND.
As a result of Clare’s diagnosis, the family moved to Armidale for a quieter life and to be closer to Chris’s family in Tamworth.
And now, Armidale’s newest residents are laying down the challenge to their elected representatives, Deputy Prime Minister and New England MP Barnaby Joyce, and Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall.
They are also calling out their not so elected representative, Armidale Regional Council administrator Ian Tiley to take up the Ice Bucket Challenge and raise money and awareness of MND once more.
Mr Marshall is a veteran of the cause, taking up the challenge previously in 2014.
But MND Australia has committed to taking the plunge every year until a cure is found so the family said their nominees had no excuse not to answer the call.
MND is a progressive, terminal disease with no effective treatment or cure.
It is indiscriminate and kills 50 per cent of its victims in two years from diagnosis and 90 per cent within three years.
This means most people who had the disease when the Ice Bucket Challenge began in 2014 have likely died.
To help find a cure, donate to MND NSW at www.mndnsw.asn.au, who works directly to support family and research, or to directly help the Vickery family, visit www.mycause.com.au/page/130947/courage-for-clare
