Woman dies from drinking water

[L98Terror]

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."

[357windsor]

That's messed up!

[Xx96GTxX]

what the hell? that is messed up

[Xx96GTxX]

edit double post..

[BigWheelinBubba]

[4 cam tbird]

I wonder what kind of liability the station holds in something like that?

[Boomer!]

I was talking to a buddy about this and he said its common for college kids to do this, they get a buzz off drinking a ton of water.

[69harleysport]

i had no idea you could die from drinking too much water

[Xx96GTxX]

Originally Posted by white96GT

I was talking to a buddy about this and he said its common for college kids to do this, they get a buzz off drinking a ton of water.

lol must be b/c in college you can't afford beer lol

[StangRacer]

Originally Posted by 69harleysport

i had no idea you could die from drinking too much water

Yup, believe it or not you can drown in a teaspoon of water.

[BigWheelinBubba]

Originally Posted by StangRacer

Yup, believe it or not you can drown in a teaspoon of water.

Only if you're a blonde female

[lab1702]

Originally Posted by white96GT

I was talking to a buddy about this and he said its common for college kids to do this, they get a buzz off drinking a ton of water.

kids nowadays... when i was a teenager, the only thing we had was absolut vodka and sniffing glue.

[BigWheelinBubba]

Originally Posted by lab1702

kids nowadays... when i was a teenager, the only thing we had was absolut vodka and sniffing glue.

I always wondered about you

[TT-FRC]

Did the radio station screen the contestants for proper sodium levels, did they have a physician on site monitoring the contestants looking for signs of poisoning, etc, etc.

There is definitely some culpability on the part of the radio station.

Has the local prosecutor ruled out criminal charges? Admit it - the contest was extremely reckless and someone becoming injured or worse was entirely foreseeable.

The real victims are the three innocent children who will now have to grow up without a mother.. All so a couple of jerks at a local radio station could have a laugh.

[Joe]

Sad story for sure if it is true.
I'm sure the staff of the Radio station feels remorse, no need to assume they ever intended for something even close to this to happen. This is a freak accident for sure, stunts/contests like this happen on a daily basis without incident.