Posted on 01/14/2007 6:05:25 AM PST by mfnorman
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.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
I'm all about personal responsibility, but I'm not inclined to call this woman stupid or a Darwin Award candidate for what she did. I'm willing to bet most of us would have thought that the worst thing that could happen to us if we had tried this is to piss ourselves...not die.
As the radio station was the sponsor of this contest, I feel they were under obligation to fully research the potential health consequences. I'm not absolving the woman of all blame, but as I stated above, I really can't fault her for thinking the worst of her problems would be having to do the pee-pee dance for a few hours.
"So, we have become such sheeple that if someone promises us a treat if we will, in return, do something that is dangerous to ourselves....."
Yup. Same dynamics were used in some of those reality shows - eating dead fish, etc..
The only time I've heard of it was related to kids who get really thirsty after doing ecstacy.
Some of them get unquenchable thirst and drink water until their body chemistry is screwed up.
i guess i can chalk this one up as one of those "you learn something new everyday" type of days
It will. I have yet to find something that will not kill you if given in the incorrect quanity.
As Paracelsus said "Alle Ding' sind Gift und nichts ohn' Gift; allein die Dosis macht, dass ein Ding kein Gift ist." ("All things are poison and nothing is without poison, only the dose permits something not to be poisonous.")
i is a real thing-and she might win a darwin award posthumously-how can anyone take these radio jerkoffs seriously??
killing yourself for a videogame, through water-poisoning???
darwin awards material.
LOL!
Oh, yes! It is a most dangerous condition.
Pure water can only be toxic when it is consumed in excessive amounts. The purity has nothing to do with it. Pure water is ideal. If you drink five gallons of pure water in a short period of time, it is the amount that will harm you, not the purity.
Welcome to the world of Idiocracy. People will do anything to win something.
It also is how quick you drink the water. If you drink a lot in a short time, it can hurt you.
yeah, that and puking;-) my mom, while waiting for me near the finish line, had the pleasure of seeing several of the faster guys puke right before crossing the finish. there were 2 photographers near the finish, hope their pics weren't snapped at the time:)
That's one area that the natural health people really fall short. There are some diets that advocate drinking distilled water, the Hallelujah Diet is one. I had some friends that were on that diet and they drank distilled water. Something about God making it that way, but that's not true. Distilled water just doesn't show up in nature. When water condenses it has to condense on SOMETHING, and usually it's dust or ash particles.
If DU can produce the most bleeding heart moonbats per pixel, then sometimes this place can produce just as many hard nosed, merciless, self-righteous, arrogant legalists.
This woman obviously didn't know that drinking too much water could kill her. Neither did many who have posted here. That does not make her an idiot. It means she was likely pretty normal, since the average person doesn't know that either.
In none of the several reports I have read on this news item is there mention of a husband or father of these three now motherless children. So you think Jennifer Strange was being greedy, do you? Perhaps she was hoping for some way to provide something special for her kids that she could not afford on her own. Perhaps they just had a very lean Christmas and this was all she could do to make up for it. Most likely she would have gone out and bought them the Playstation if she could have afforded it. Do kids absolutely need a Playstation or any number of other such items? No. But how many of your own children are given things they don't "need"? I would venture to guess that all of them are at one time or another.
Some of you people have Brillo where your hearts should be. So this was not the most intelligent thing to do. It was mostly a senseless tragedy, like crashing your car while eating a burger. Yet you have not a modicum of compassion for the family. You mock this poor woman like she deserved to die like that, with all your stupid Darwin Awards comments. Like none of you have ever, ever done anything ridiculous or silly yourselves--only you didn't get caught, so you can post haughtiness like some of what I've read here today. Feel justified? Proud of yourselves?
That radio station owns as much responsibility for what happened, if not more. I'm tired of fellow conservatives giving corporate entities a free pass for every wrong they commit. Just as individuals, they are accountable for their actions. I hope they get slammed over this.
Who's the real greedy party here?
Drowning is dying from water in the lungs and lack of oxygen.
I just cannot see myself deliberately doing something that would result in my puking. I try to avoid it at all costs. It takes all kinds...
I think this is the reason why doctors are telling runners to go easy on the hydration. When you drink too much water you dilute your electrolytes/salts resulting in a heart attack and I think it also damages your red blood cells. As they say, too much of anything can be harmful. It's a shame, I think I heard ont he news that she had two kids.
Pardon me for asking, but what is a wii? Must have been something worth having for someone to do this.
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