Corey Griffin, a philanthropist who was instrumental in making the ALS ice bucket challenge fund-raising drive go viral, has died after drowning in a diving accident off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts.

The 27-year-old's life was cut tragically short on Saturday (16 August) when he dove off a wharf that serves as a popular diving perch for locals, resurfacing once before disappearing back under the water and drowning.

Griffin "helped turn the ice bucket challenge for ALS into a fund-raising sensation after his friend Pete Frates was diagnosed", according to an obituary in the Boston Globe, with his father Robert describing him to the newspaper as "the happiest guy in the world".

"He called me last night and told me he was in paradise," he added.

Griffin climbed the Juice Guys building in Nantucket before jumping off the wharf (Picture: Facebook) (Facebook)

Griffin reportedly raised $100,000 at a fundraiser just hours before his death, with the ice bucket challenge having been one of the biggest talking points online in the past few days.

In pictures: The famous do the ice bucket challenge Show all 17 1 /17 In 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 YouTube/Foo Fighters 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 HipHopForever/Youtube 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 YouTube/Fox 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 YouTube 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 thegatesnotes/YouTube 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' George W.Bush/Facebook 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 YouTube 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 REX/Broadimage 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 TUBEBREAKINGNEWS/YouTube 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 TV iGosu/YouTube 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 MaximumFootballHD/YouTube

Oprah, Justin Bieber, Britney Spears, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Lady Gaga, Charlie Sheen, George Bush and the Foo Fighters have all taken part in the campaign, which sees a bucket of ice water dumped over participants' heads, with even Vladimir Putin being challenged this week.

The drive has so far raised $22.9 million in aid of Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

"Helping out was nothing new for Griff," Frates wrote on Facebook. "He held his own event for me back in 2012, just a few months after diagnosis.

"He worked his butt off these last few weeks for ALS. We texted everyday, planning and scheming ways to raise funds and plan events."