Mother dies while trying to win a Wii for her children

[Dogasu]

Just saw this on CNN:

SACRAMENTO, California (AP) -- A woman who competed in a radio station's contest to see how much water she could drink without going to the bathroom died of water intoxication, the coroner's office said Saturday.

Jennifer Strange, 28, was found dead Friday in her suburban Rancho Cordova home hours after taking part in the "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" contest in which KDND 107.9 promised a Nintendo Wii video game system for the winner.

"She said to one of our supervisors that she was on her way home and her head was hurting her real bad," said Laura Rios, one of Strange's co-workers at Radiological Associates of Sacramento. "She was crying, and that was the last that anyone had heard from her."

It was not immediately known how much water Strange consumed.

A preliminary investigation found evidence "consistent with a water intoxication death," said assistant Coroner Ed Smith.

John Geary, vice president and marketing manager for Entercom Sacramento, the station's owner, said station personnel were stunned when they heard of Strange's death.

"We are awaiting information that will help explain how this tragic event occurred," he said.

Initially, contestants were handed 8-ounce bottles of water to drink every 15 minutes.

"They were small little half-pint bottles, so we thought it was going to be easy," said fellow contestant James Ybarra of Woodland. "They told us if you don't feel like you can do this, don't put your health at risk."

Ybarra said he quit after drinking five bottles. "My bladder couldn't handle it anymore," he added.

After he quit, he said, the remaining contestants, including Strange, were given even bigger bottles to drink.

"I was talking to her and she was a nice lady," Ybarra said. "She was telling me about her family and her three kids and how she was doing it for her kids."

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

 

[LightningTopaz]

That's one way NOT to win a Wii...

 

[Strawberry Delcatty]

I've only read the first sentence of that.

This is my reaction (mostly the girl on the right):

The guy who thought of that radio contest should be fired.

 

[Evil Raichu]

Someone's going to get sued.

 

[TTEchidna]

Wow. Well, I hope they don't try banning water as a killer substance because of this, or people start screaming about how Wii kills people.

I agree, though. The contest was a really dumb idea. Shows how much people want a Wii, though... How much water did she drink, anyway?

Poor kids...

 

[bell02+]

Just saw this on CNN:

Yeah, I heard about that ...

it just kind of reminds me of those sad christmas stories in a movie... of course its real..

 

[Doctor Oak]

British Tabloid Headline in the morning:

"KILLED BY NINTENDO WII"

Would go well with the "KILLED BY XMAS GAMEBOY" headline I'd say.

 

[Murgatroyd]

Wow. Well, I hope they don't try banning water as a killer substance because of this, or people start screaming about how Wii kills people.

Yet another death caused by dihydrogen monoxide.

A bad idea for a promotion meets someone who was (presumably) particularly susceptible to this condition, with tragic results.

 

[Dark Fire]

How does water intoxication work?
I never imagined drinking too much water would kill you. This really caught me by surprise.

 

[Murgatroyd]

Basically, drinking too much water, especially without urinating, dilutes the blood. All sorts of chemical balances are disturbed, causing similar symptoms to drinking too much alcohol. In a few rare cases, death results.

 

[Dogasu]

Which is why when someone is dehydrated, you have to watch how they rehydrate to prevent them from taking in too much water all at once, right?

 

[Zhen Lin]

Another thing to consider is osmosis. It's like diffusion, except only water can get through the membranes. When you have so much water in your system, the water outside the cells are more pure than the water inside the cells. Usually what would happen is the dissolved substances will move into the pure water, but since the cell membranes stop that from happening, water moves into the cells instead, and the cells burst.

 

[Swifty]

Alright fanboys, when was the last time you died for Nintendo?

 

[Dark Fire]

Doesn't sound fun >.<
And I kinda figured her cell would undergo osmosis, but I don't think her cells bursting from over-hydration would actually cause her to die, nor it being a part of the actual intoxication.

It's a shame she died, but people should read up about this stuff before entering these type of contests.

 

[wobbafetts_rule]

I heard that on the news. It didn't really register until one of my friends told me, though. *smacks head* My friend told me that when you drink that much water without going, then your sodium levels get lower. or higher. I'm not really sure, but I think it's lower. Anyway, she says it got dangerously low/high and killed her. Either way, it's still really sad. =sniff, sniff=

 

[Lil Brother]

Whoooooooa. o.o

That's just... just... wow.

 

[Kthleen]

I heard that on the news. It didn't really register until one of my friends told me, though. *smacks head* My friend told me that when you drink that much water without going, then your sodium levels get lower. or higher. I'm not really sure, but I think it's lower. Anyway, she says it got dangerously low/high and killed her. Either way, it's still really sad. =sniff, sniff=

Lower. It's called hyponatremia (natrium = sodium).

 

[Æsahættr]

Oh, that's horrible. I can't even begin to imagine what the kids are feeling. I mean "How she was doing it for her kids." They must feel so guilty...

 

[Nekusagi]

I hope some Nintendo execs realize how stupid they were for ever changing the Revolution's name...

Stupid DJs. Why do so many morning shows feel the need to make up such idiotic contests, anyway?

 

[Cybersai]

Considering Wii has caught on and is now very recognizable, I say it was smart of them to change it from Revolution.

It seems that nowadays nobody but very insecure teenagers have a problem with calling their system a "Wii."