[Updated]Woman dies trying to win a Wii
How far are you willing to go to get a Wii? Would you pay double the MSRP on ebay? Would you drink bottle after bottle of water, without going to the bathroom, to win a radio station contest just to get a Wii? A Sacramento woman did and ended up dead.
KDND 107.9 in Sacramento, California held a contest Friday titled Hold Your Wee for a Wii. Contestants were given water bottles to drink without going to the bathroom. The last man drinking would be awarded a Wii. Initially, contestants were given eight ounce bottles of water to drink every 15 minutes, but the size of the bottles was ramped up as contestants started to drop out. Jessica Strange was found dead in her home hours after participating in the contest friday. A preliminary coroner’s investigation found evidence consistent with a water intoxication death. Co-workers said that Strange did not know exactly what kind of danger she was putting herself in. Strange was trying to win the system for her three young children. The last time anyone spoke to the deceased, she was on her way home and said that her head was hurting real bad. She was crying, and that was the last anyone heard from her.
Update:The heads are starting to roll over at KDND 107.9, 10 staff members involved with the contest have been fired, including 5 on-air personalities. Several listeners phoned the station to voice their concerns, and to explain the dangers of water intoxication, but the host jokingly replied that it was fine because the contestants had signed release forms. It’s now clear that Strange drank almost 2 gallons of water, and one staff member stated that she looked like she was three months pregnant. Strange did not win the contest, she was the runner-up and recieved two tickets to a Justin Timberlake concert. The local sheriff’s office said there were no grounds for criminal charges, as the contestants were willfully participating in the contest and could leave at any time.
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I did not know you could die from drinking too much water at one time, sad sad story, especially since it was some poor mom and not some loser emo queer.
You my friend, are lower then low. Some “poor mom and not some loser emo queer”. Ok Mr. Biggot. I’m not emo, but there isn’t a damn thing wrong with Emo kids. Or gay kids, or black kids, or goth kids or prep kids. Its a human life you sick fcuk. Grow the fcuk up.
dude, emo kids are still pretty dumb.
Got to agree, they are pretty dumb.
They’re totally fucking stupid!
Yeah, there have been a few cases of death via water intoxication. I knew a person who was obsessed with their digestive track, so they drank glass after glass of water every day. One day he had to be rushed to the hospital because of water intoxication.
This is a heart-breaking story. A mother trying to win a Wii for her children; imagine how happy the children would be when her mother comes in with a brand new Wii. I bet nobody expected something like this to happen.
Just how much water is too much water and in what period of time. Never heard of such a thing and why didn’t she just have to vomit if she drank that much???
Just exactly how much water did this woman drink. Everywhere you look today they are always telling everyone to drink more water. How much IS too much?? Never heard of such a thing.
I think it lowers the effective potassium levels in your body and causes neurological damage. I think that is what happens….FWIT
nope - sodium mainly
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_intoxication
I think that he children of this noninformed mother should at least be given a Wil’ and then some…
The family should sue that radio station for holding such an irresponsible contst.
I hope the station gets sued, which I’m sure they will, and have to pay her family millions. What a stupid ass contest. Radio station contests are juvenile.
thats not cool man, i don’t think anyone would have thought someone would die. someone owns that radio station, and hoping that persons dream is destroyed is pretty fucked up. seriously, most of the comments on here were filled with suprise because the people had no idea that drinking too much water could be fatal. i dont think that station should be to blame, and neither should the woman.
yeah scope Wikipedia on water intoxication - too much water too fast reduces the extracellular electrolyte balance (Na+, Cl-) and your body just can’t control cells’ water content. Systems shut down, and…
I hope and pray the Radio Statio0n that did this contest is stepping up to the plate for this family. They ran a dangerious contest, it was their idea, did they warn people?
The Makers of Wii should also step up to the plate, and I do not mean giving the family one, I mean putting up $ for the childrens futures, a trust fund for college or some such, the Children’s father will have a tough time working with three kids to care for.
Sad, Tragic, and preventable…
Yeah its sad but why should Nintendo have to step up and set the kids up for life when they had nothing to do with the competition? They’re not obligated to do anything, its the radio stations fault yet all the competitors signed release forms and agreed to take part. Stupid contest, stupid radio show, and stupid contestants. End of.
Where’s the lawyer? This is a huge lawsuit waiting to happen. Imagine the kids: how did yourt mom die? she drank too much water trying to win me a game.
I heard about that kind of thing on CSI. Someone mentioned that too much of anything can kill you, even water.
I don’t think a law suit is going to do it. I think the radio station may actually be criminally negligent. Probably haven’t heard the end of this story. People are so stupid. There is a great Stephen King novella about a walking race. People walk until they die. If they stop they are shot. The last one still walking wins.
I guess it isn’t science fiction anymore.
Yup, good story but can’t remember the name.
It was in a collection of four stories under the title of the Bachman Books as King wrote them under the pseudonmyn Richard Bachman as it wasn’t his usual sort of material. One of the stories was also the original “Running Man” which was very different and far better than the film. Bit offtopic.
But anyway, fuck me, didn’t know water could kill you unless you drowned in it.
Uh, try the Bataan Death March. Google it. And the people weren’t stupid, they were POWs. Another example is the Trail of Tears.
Dumbass, he was on about the radio station people. wererabbit = STUPID
I had a fellow solider die in Iraq after over hydrating himself. A tragic event.
Could this be the first Su-Wii-cide? Who is Wii-sponsible?
On a ser-Wii-ous note, there were a few documented cases of extasy users dying of the same thing. X made them very thirsty and they diluted the sodium in their bodies so much they died.
Su-Wii-cide?. Outside of this tragedy, you sir are a genius. Suwiicide, I love It!
Just an over-educated village idiot trying hard - Thanks!
I concur, genius.
Who’d she think she was Wii-vil Knievel?
You should have stopped with your first comment as that was just Shit.
tough crowd - judging by your other posts, you’re having a bad day
there is a lot of tragedy these days, eh? but how many people are really questioning the deeper issues? for example, the obsession for gadgetry, the latest and greatest, the newest and best. keeping up with the jones is a major jones (addiction near ’bouts) that is killing us all - albeit most more slowly than this poor woman.
What sucks is this isn’t enough to shock me. I would expect something like this at least every day, whether or not I hear about it. That poor lady was undereducated, but she was willing to do just anything for her children. My question- who’s gonna take care of her babies? It’s just a tragedy to expect them to get over the emotional wretchedness of the death of their mother. And they’ll probably partly blame themselves for their mom dying to get them a video game system.
Nothing in the US is around for this stuff. There’s nowhere to go. There’s no agency that will care for children who need a chance. Taxes are just extorted into the bank accounts of the super-rich. What’s worse, forget about “working your way up.” Back when I was an abused child, I was 18, able to program computers in a number of languages quite competently, and could not escape my parents’ house because of the financial infeasibility of supporting yourself. Nobody anywhere will hire you unless you look pleasant enough for them to want to get in your pants. I was trapped up like a caged animal and, as a result of the horrific strain on my body from the stress of daily abuse, I suffered endocrine failure and developed Type I Diabetes. Though I’m doing fine now, I just want out of this country. That’s part of the reason I’m not starting a family in the US. What if something happens to me? What happens when the kids I’ll have need me and I’m not around for them for some reason?
Hmmm, Brian maybe you could move to Malawi and be adopted by a popstar. Dude! Life is what you make it not where you make it. Her 3 children will be just as capable of taking advantages of opportunities in this country as anyone else. You really should go out into the world and check out the greener grass. After living 17 years in various countries in Europe, I had a great time, but talk about class distinction! If you aren’t part of the royal family you can go F yourself over there too. Traveling to Asia over the past 6 years I have found it no different, maybe worse. If you’re looking for social handouts, try Scandanavia, but after searching the world you will probably end up finding the gold in your own backyard…
How do you know she was undereducated?
who’s going to take care of her babies? The Father or the family should step in. What a thought.
I get the impression you would like Govmn’t to help you out? Then tear ass to Canada and that awesome medical care system they have.
You speak as if this country is holding you hostage. Pff, ask the Mexicans which way is out and they will look at you like you are mad.
Jezz that is a messed up situation. I really feel for the family. I have a hunch the radio station owners will step up especialy if it is a Clear Channel operation. Who knew, I mean water? Oh well.
As for people suggesting that Nintendo also step up, get real! If that is the case then maybe the company who bottles the water should step up, maybe the plastic bottle manufacturer should step up, and if the bottlers used osmosis machines then the osmosis machine manufacturers should also step up.
The condition is known as hyponatremia. (Low sodium) Normal sodium levels range from 135-145 MEQ/L. When the levels drop below 125 MEQ/L, many people begin to develop neurologic signs and symptoms. (headache, confusion, seizures) Serious brain damage and even death can result from cerebral edema. (swelling of the brain) This is also seen in people who die from MDMA/XTC use.
Why is it that every time someone hurts themselves or dies in this country, the calls go out for armies of litigators to come and same the day. What we really need in America is less lawsuits and a greater appreciation for common sense. Sometimes you just have to look at a tragedy like this and walk away as a better-informed consumer of life. I certainly did not know you could O.D. on water…. “Ooops”
I’m sure there WILL be lawsuits, but I’m not sure there SHOULD be lawsuits. I agree that there is a HUMONGOUS lack of common sense in this country, even world. Everytime someone does something stupid and either the courts or the government step in to protect us from ourselves we find our personal freedoms and liberties just gradualized away from us. Dam man just look where we are now. Thomas Jefferson said something 200 years ago that went pretty much something like this: ” I predict future happiness for Americans IF they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of protecting us”. I am personally sick and tired of losing my personal freedoms over victimless crimes and lawyers and governments protecting me from myself. If I do something stupid, I should either reap the rewards or suffer the consequences.. things often times take care of themselves if left un-meddled with. If you don’t learn from your mistakes and the mistakes of others there is no end to stupidity.
Just one phrase: Darwin awards. That and I agree with Ron. Idiocy need not be rewarded…lest we end up with our freedoms squashed and a thoroughly inept moron “leading” the country. Oh wait…
Anyway, what good is tragedy if you can’t laugh at it? Her death is more meaningful if it can give you perspective on the kids and families dying in a stooopid war. Yep, it was stupid and senseless. But it was a death of ignorance and opulence. And she had a choice.
What really gets me is that there was a case a few years ago that received *national recognition* where a young man died from drinking too much water at a frat initiation. Did the radio station forget that? I could excuse this had that case not been reported nationwide, but it was. This station should be sued and it should lose its money.
What on earth do you think Nintendo has to do with this? In fact, even the radio station isn’t legally liable. They made ONE mistake: they assumed that participants were mature enough to know when to quit.
In this case, the victim was to blame. Common sense tells us that just because there is a prize to do something, that doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed to be safe. In fact, it’s likely to be unsafe, pushing you to your limits at the very least… otherwise it wouldn’t be a contest.
Yes but alot of people assume that water is so good for you, it could never kill you. That isn’t the fault of the person (maybe schooling, but I’m not about to attack US schools when I had to find out through a newspaper).
On the subject of how much is too much? That’s hard to say, depending on how quickly you drink it. If you drink 14 pints of water you might be in a bit of bother.
The radio station is liable in that they did not warn the contestants that they might lose their lives in the competition. From the reports so far, none of the contestants signed a waiver stating that the radio station would not be held liable. Even if they had signed one, this would not necessarily exonerate the radio station in the eyes of the law.
What happened was terrible, and I hope the radio station pays some sort of financial restitution to help the family in their tragic loss.
I think the lesson is, dont enter stupid competitions.
There’s a site dedicated to Jennifer Strange and water poisoning awareness http://waterintoxication.org