Woman Dies From Water Intoxication In Radio Station Contest

A 28 year old California woman died from water intoxication after participating in a contest held by a radio station. The contest was to see who could drink the most water without relieving themselves. The prize was a Nintendo Wii game system.



Water intoxication, also known as water poisoning, happens when the balance of electrolytes in the body are pushed outside of safe limits.

Eleven employees of the radio station have been fired; the General Manager has not. There are audiotapes of a caller that warned the DJ's of the danger of drinking too much water.

The question is, did the station know, or should have known, that this was a dangerous game. Are they culpable? It is not illegal to drink water.

[edit on 18/1/2007 by Mirthful Me]

I've always wondered how they did it. Those people in the eating contest. A girl who weighs 100 pounds eats 172 hot dogs in 1 minute, etc. I really can't understand why people do these things or why others watch.

Darwin Award...

So is there that little going on in the world that some moron killing herself through utter stupidity makes the news? I bet a dozen stupid people kill themselves each day and don't make the news. What's so special about this one?

I wonder if the radio station was even remotely aware of water poisoning?

How can they _not_ be held liable?

...simply because they didn't think anyone would die?



Intentions mean nothing next to actions.

Originally posted by apc
So is there that little going on in the world that some moron killing herself through utter stupidity makes the news? I bet a dozen stupid people kill themselves each day and don't make the news. What's so special about this one?

Well, I can think of one thing: it brings awareness of the issue to the public. I'll bet that more than 50% of people had no idea that you could die from drinking too much water. On the contrary, we are often told that it is a good thing to drink lots of water when quitting smoking, etc.

It's obvious that the radio station didn't know the dangers. I heard the audio of the caller who warned them of the dangers; the DJ's and others treated it like a joke.

We've actually been discussing this in the gaming forum a bit;
Dying to Get a Wii

Kind of sad, not just that a mother died trying to get a system for her kids, but also that humanity doesn't seem to be getting any smarter despite our scientific advances.

She was allowed to breed?! Aww crap! "Sorry kids, your mom dumbed herself to death. Now don't be like mommy."

Everyone participating in that contest should've died. And the organizers too for good measure. Ignorance is no excuse for outright stupidity. What's next? Who can hold their finger in a light socket the longest?

I wonder if the radio station was even remotely aware of water poisoning?

They knew. When a caller called to tell them that a person could die of water poisoning, they said they knew that, but all the contestants had signed waivers, so they didn't have to worry about that. It's a pretty damning recording.

This is just a tragic example of the idiotic things that radio jocks do these days for ratings and finally it caught up with them in a big way.

Does the woman deserve a Darwin Award? I think not. The woman was trying to win a game console for her kids and like a lot of people had probably never heard of water intoxication and entered the contest with no expectation that she could die as a result.

The radio station, in the interest of ratings, put people's lives at risk. They should pay big time and someone should go to jail.

Why should the radio station be held liable? The contestants had it within their power to quit at anytime. If someone tells me to do something that's potentially harmful and I do it, well, there goes personal responsibility again. I agree with them getting fired but not criminally or civilly charged. And what's this business about waivers? The participants knew the risks and still signed off? Everyone is at fault here, including the genius who drank two gallons of water in a matter of minutes.

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."

Obviously the station knew what was at stake -- they warned the people! (And yes, she does deserve the Darwin Award because she had to be, at the very least, aware of a health risk if warnings were given, and yet she chose to continue. Maybe not in the top ten, but she's definitely a contestant.)

So, what's up with the vp's words: 'we're waiting for information'??

About what?

Who else to blame besides themselves for signing the go ahead on this contest?!




It's quite obvious 'how this tragic event occurred', but they are working out how to shift the blame... meaning, the jocks will probably get fired, but those who approved it will issue an apology and cackle gleefully all the way to the bank over the publicity.

Everyone is at fault here, including the genius who drank two gallons of water in a matter of minutes.

Exactly, from the woman who drank the water, to the jocks to put the show on, to the higher ups who approved it.

10 people were fired from the radio station, like that makes any difference, but the fact that there were no emergency personnel on-site makes it wrong. I heard the audio of the woman when she started to feel the effects, and how her stomach was swelling. They thought it was funny, and that their "waivers" cleared them of all wrong doing.

The funniest part of this, not that the situation is humorous, is that ManCow, a supposed "shock jock" was on the O'Reiley factor talking about these "shock jock" radio stations doing these stunts and how wrong it is.

Last time I checked, ManCow was basically kicked out of Chicago because he sucks, no one wants to hear him, and the sacramento station is more of a "morning zoo" family friendly, overly-filtered crap station. Drinking too much water and holding it? WOW, how shocking. The fact that people will do these obviously stupid things just to get a piece of electronics is beyond me......

I vote yes for her darwin award. I'm sure she'll be in the top 10 this year.

R.I.P.

I'd like to see the waiver that they signed. I doubt it would hold up in court anyway.