Ed Tessaro, 68, just joined the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, the social media fundraising phenomenon that has brought in over $100 million in donations to fight ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease.

Ed Tessaro has been fighting the disease for more than five years.

But Tessaro's challenge is different than most. Tessaro has been fighting the disease for more than five years.

"My arms and legs are weaker, when I walk I'm pretty much at risk," Tessaro told CBS News. "That's really the only bad news. I'm breathing at 100 percent of normal, which is great news."

In ALS, motor neurons, the nerve cells that control voluntary muscles, detach from the muscle and die. Patients lose control of movement and eventually their ability to breathe on their own. The cause of ALS is unknown.

Tessaro is one of 30 patients in a clinical trial who had stem cells injected into their spinal column in an attempt to slow the progression of the disease.

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What's the Ice Bucket Challenge all about? A "60 Minutes" story about the fortitude of many ALS patients shows why they need more research fundin...

Normally, neurons are surrounded by cells that protect and nourish them. New research suggests that in ALS patients, these supporting cells become killers, poisoning the motor neurons. Animal studies have found stem cells can help heal the toxic supporting cells.

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Research making ALS less of a mystery