"Hold Your Wee for a Wii" contestant dies of water intoxication
01-14-07, 09:18 AM
#1
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"Hold Your Wee for a Wii" contestant dies of water intoxication
Sad. Sad. Sad.
28-year-old mother of 3 was trying to win one for her kids...
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/01/13/wat....ap/index.html
28-year-old mother of 3 was trying to win one for her kids...
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/01/13/wat....ap/index.html
Woman drinks so much water she dies
POSTED: 10:33 p.m. EST, January 13, 2007
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.
POSTED: 10:33 p.m. EST, January 13, 2007
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.
01-14-07, 09:43 AM
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That was an amazingly bad idea. Water intoxication is basically over dilution of your blood. The serum sodium drops and brain cells swell as a result. Any doctor could have told them that this was really dangerous. If they had been drinking Pedialyte, which contains a fair amount of Sodium and Potassium, this result would have been avoided. I hope this woman sues the radio station's parent company for millions.
01-14-07, 09:46 AM
#6
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Yep. Bad idea. They don't state how much they made contestants drink, but something like a liter would have been fine for a silly waiting game like this. Everyone will have to go eventually it just may take a little longer than pumping the contestants totally full of water.
I liked the steamroller vs. PS3 radio giveaway better.
Much better and relied on a contestants knowledge or lack-thereof.
I liked the steamroller vs. PS3 radio giveaway better.
Much better and relied on a contestants knowledge or lack-thereof.
01-14-07, 11:32 AM
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I probably drink a half gallon of water with meals and a couple liters a day (for a total of 2-3 gallons a day) I am 6'2" 215"...am I at risk down the road or something???
01-14-07, 11:57 AM
#11
Originally Posted by paulringodaman
I probably drink a half gallon of water with meals and a couple liters a day (for a total of 2-3 gallons a day) I am 6'2" 215"...am I at risk down the road or something???
01-14-07, 12:08 PM
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Originally Posted by paulringodaman
I probably drink a half gallon of water with meals and a couple liters a day (for a total of 2-3 gallons a day) I am 6'2" 215"...am I at risk down the road or something???
01-14-07, 12:24 PM
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Originally Posted by Astro
That's a lot of water. Uh, I think you're ok as long as you aren't trying to hold it all in all day.
It's not the total volume of water imbibed in a day, it's the rate of water injested. Drinking a lot of water rapidly is what can cause water intoxication and hyponatremia (low sodium in the blood). As long as you're not drinking a huge volume too quickly, your kidneys will just excrete very dilute urine and you'll be fine.
...And yes, in the previous post, I meant I hope that the woman's family sues. What can I say, it was early and I'm a doctor, not a lawyer.
01-14-07, 12:40 PM
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it's funny because this isn't an old stunt or anything. Howard Stern has been doing this for years with no injury or death.
01-14-07, 01:02 PM
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Originally Posted by Decker
Actually, the "holding it in" part doesn't enter into it. You see, the kidneys will keep functioning and excreting urine into the bladder no matter what. All you can control is the excretion of the urine from your bladder.
It's not the total volume of water imbibed in a day, it's the rate of water injested. Drinking a lot of water rapidly is what can cause water intoxication and hyponatremia (low sodium in the blood). As long as you're not drinking a huge volume too quickly, your kidneys will just excrete very dilute urine and you'll be fine.
...And yes, in the previous post, I meant I hope that the woman's family sues. What can I say, it was early and I'm a doctor, not a lawyer.
It's not the total volume of water imbibed in a day, it's the rate of water injested. Drinking a lot of water rapidly is what can cause water intoxication and hyponatremia (low sodium in the blood). As long as you're not drinking a huge volume too quickly, your kidneys will just excrete very dilute urine and you'll be fine.
...And yes, in the previous post, I meant I hope that the woman's family sues. What can I say, it was early and I'm a doctor, not a lawyer.
01-14-07, 01:40 PM
#17
Originally Posted by sniper308
Thanks for the clarification, because I was wondering how someone could even "will" themselves to hold it long enough to actually die... hell there are times, after drinking a decent amount of Diet Mt Dew, that I have trouble willing myself to hold it long enough to pull the car over and get to a rest room
01-14-07, 02:12 PM
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It didn't say in the article how long the contest lasted. One contestant said they were given 8oz bottles of water every 15 mintues and that he quit after 5 bottles. There are roughly 34 ounces in a liter, so she drank about a liter an hour barring they didn't shorten the duration or increase the water intake.
Hopefully a Doctor can answer this, but would it have made a difference if another liquid such as Coke or juice were used in place of water? or would it have had the same effect?
Hopefully a Doctor can answer this, but would it have made a difference if another liquid such as Coke or juice were used in place of water? or would it have had the same effect?
01-14-07, 05:54 PM
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Originally Posted by Absolute Zero
It didn't say in the article how long the contest lasted. One contestant said they were given 8oz bottles of water every 15 mintues and that he quit after 5 bottles. There are roughly 34 ounces in a liter, so she drank about a liter an hour barring they didn't shorten the duration or increase the water intake.
Hopefully a Doctor can answer this, but would it have made a difference if another liquid such as Coke or juice were used in place of water? or would it have had the same effect?
Hopefully a Doctor can answer this, but would it have made a difference if another liquid such as Coke or juice were used in place of water? or would it have had the same effect?
01-14-07, 07:07 PM
#20
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Originally Posted by Decker
As I posted above, Pedialyte would have probably been a lot better, since it has a sodium and Posassium level comperable to serum. It's used for rehydration after vomiting and diarrhea. Gatoraide would probably been better than water since it has a little sodium in it. I don't think juice or Coke would have made any difference (except I can't imagine drinking the same volume of Coke that one can consume of water -- the carbination would probably have slowed her down).
.
01-14-07, 08:03 PM
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The radio station's parent company would be wise to jump on this from a PR perspective by securing a release from the family for a fully stocked Wii and a couple of nice college scholarships for the kids. They can look good doing that and avoid a lawsuit that could go very badly for them (or very well for them -- I'd call it a crapshoot). The only way I could see hazarding a suit would be if the company's lawyers know the plaintiffs won't be able to make out an element of the cause of action.
01-14-07, 08:35 PM
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The radio station should have checked before ever offering this kind of a contest to see if it could be potentially life threatening. I consider myself a well-educated, intelligent individual, and I didn't know previously that there was such a thing as drinking too much water. Most of the time, we hear about how people don't drink enough water and should drink more.
And I don't think giving these kids whose mother just died a Wii is appropriate - fully stocked or not.
And if they had the contestants sign waivers, then it just shows they knew the contest was potentially dangerous.
In all the reporting, I see no mention of a father. But I'm sure there is some family that will sue. And they will either win big, or get a hefty settlement without going to trial, which I'd think is more likely.
And I don't think giving these kids whose mother just died a Wii is appropriate - fully stocked or not.
And if they had the contestants sign waivers, then it just shows they knew the contest was potentially dangerous.
In all the reporting, I see no mention of a father. But I'm sure there is some family that will sue. And they will either win big, or get a hefty settlement without going to trial, which I'd think is more likely.
01-14-07, 09:24 PM
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Originally Posted by Altimus Prime
And if they had the contestants sign waivers, then it just shows they knew the contest was potentially dangerous.
Everything these days has liability waivers, because people are so quick to file a lawsuit. Its got nothing to do with whether there is actually "danger" or not.
01-14-07, 09:40 PM
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I really think the radio station is at fault. There were so many other "safe" ways for people to "hold their wee". They all could have been given 5 minutes to drink a liter of water and then played the waiting game. I blame impatience of the radio station. I remember in college being told not to have a drunk person drink a bunch of water to try and sober up because the brain could swell.
01-14-07, 09:56 PM
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I hadn't heard of "water intoxication" before this, so I'm not sure it is that commonly known. I have heard of bladder bursting previously (in one case causing death), so whichever way you look at it, this competition seems like a bad idea.