News: Mom dies from water intoxication in radio contest

[kingsrings]

Okay, this is happening locally in my neck of the woods, so of course it's all over the media here in Northern CA. Now apparently it's nation and world-wide as well! Gotta love it when your city hits the news for all the wrong reasons, but I digress. To brief those who aren't familar with this story, a 28 year-old mother of three participated in a radio contest last weekend where the prize was a Wii video game. The object of the contest was to drink as much water as possible without going to the bathroom. The one who could hold out the longest won the contest and the video game. Here is a brief news story on it: http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/01/13/water.intox.ap/index.html
So the mom died of water intoxication.
So, what's your take on this terrible tragedy? On one hand, I feel that the mom was ultimately responsible and can't believe that someone would risk their health, life and limb just over a video game to make her kids happy. She felt sick during the contest, yet kept on going (note: she didn't win it) because she wanted the video game for her kids so badly. On the other hand, the radio station kept urging them on and never warned the contestants about the dangers of water intoxication, only that they should stop if they started feeling badly.
This is the first time I've heard of someone dying from participating in a radio contest. The only thing close would be people dying from participating in the Chubby Bunny game. In both situations, even though I feel terrible for the families left behind, I kind of feel that anyone who would endanger their life like this deserves the Darwin award.

[LtPowers]

Technically, I'm not sure she's eligible for the Darwin Award, seeing as how her genes have already been propagated.  The gene pool is no better off for her death, unless she would have had more kids.

Morbidity aside, it is a tragedy, but one that should have been avoided.  This contest never should have taken place; water intoxication is an entirely predictable outcome from overingestion of water.  The contest organizers are equally at fault here.


Powers  &8^]

[IndianInlaw]

Who knows you can die of drinking too much water?

It's not common knowledge.

[RegionMom]

I first heard about water intoxication from an old episode of ER.  Some guy was trying to flush out his system for a work -related drug test.
 
I wonder if there was a liability waver from the station.  But any good lawyer could fuss around that.  
Who is responsible?  I dunno.  I am all for fun and games, and getting free stuff, but she had to have know she was not feeling well.  How much did she drink, in what period or time?
I remember one time trying to drink 8 glasses of water to be healthy and I had not done it one day so on my bed at bedtime I tried to drink over 1 liter.  My ears felt like they were swimming!  I had to quit.
And I was all of 19 and did not have that "I am the mommy now, I must take care of myself so that I can take care of my kids" gene yet.  
Some lawsuit will ensue.  
Hope someone donate a W11 (whatever) to the kids!!

[kingsrings]

Who knows you can die of drinking too much water?

It's not common knowledge.

But what about the common sense of not going to the bathroom? Who wouldn't think that wouldn't be taking a risk? Our bodies give us obvious, discomforting warning signs when we ignore the natural elimination process. Anyone with common sense would know that this was not a good idea, just like holding your breath would make you suffocate. And once you start feeling as rotten as she did (even calling in sick to work), you should know that your body is giving you warning signs. It will be interesting to see what happens court-wise with this case. I'm also wondering why the radio station's legal team allowed this to happen.

[Suze]

f

I'm also wondering why the radio station's legal team allowed this to happen.

as horrorable a thing as this is -- Kingsrings the only thing that came to me after reading that line was

"As God is my witness - I thought turkeys could fly"

[kingsrings]

f

I'm also wondering why the radio station's legal team allowed this to happen.

as horrorable a thing as this is -- Kingsrings the only thing that came to me after reading that line was

"As God is my witness - I thought turkeys could fly"

LOL. I forgot about that one. I never watched WKRP, but I have seen that clip on TV. I wonder what other real-life radio contest catastrophes have happened?

[Brentwood]

Ultimately, I believe the radio station bears the responsibility for this. I did know that over-consumption of water can lead to death, but as IndianInlaw said, it's not really common knowledge. The woman likely did not know and had no reason to believe she was competing in a dangerous contest.

The radio station, on the other hand, has a responsibility to make sure the contests it runs are legal and safe. Any waivers the participants signed will not hold up in court if the station is sued. It would not surprise me if a wrongful death suit were brought against the station and the individuals on behalf of this woman's children.

[Heavenly]

Oh...I loved that episode of WKRP!

Water intoxication has been well known for years.  I knew about it when I was a teenager (over 25 years ago).  The radio should shoulder some of the blame here--what a stupid contest.  Plus, they probably should have had some medical staff on hand, just in case--medical staff surely would have warned them?

[dawbs]

After the news stories in the US about hazing leading to death, I thought more folks knew about this (since it was the same water intoxication...)

I do think the radio station shares some responsibility here--I'm amazed no one on their staff (and none of their lawyers who look over such contests) looked at this contest when it was proposed and raised an eyebrow...

All around it's sad.

[miranova]

What a terrible idea for a contest.  Most radio contests are pretty juevenile and frat party-ish, but sheesh...daring people to do something that is medically dangerous?  That's asking for trouble.  Ultimately, sure, she should have stopped drinking or in the very least sought medical attention, but this event never should have been approved.  What if I have a "jump off my roof" contest?  If I get everyone to sign waivers, then I'm being responsible, right?  Somehow I doubt it.

[alli_wan]

My guess is the radio station did know, and assumed most people did know as it's fairly common knowledge to me, and thought they were covering their behinds by telling contestants to stop if they felt sick.  (I suspect most people don't know you can die, but even when I was a kid there was the urban legend of getting 'drunk' that way, though most people ran to the bathroom first).

Considering the object was to hold water, not drink it, they may have thought they were in the clear.

Still, I find it bizarre that no one got medical attention for the woman when she was crying in pain.  On the other hand, if she was able to drive home, perhaps she dissauded them from getting her assistance?

[Ciarrai]

This was a really stupid contest. I do believe that the radio station should take some responsibility for the results of their contest, but ultimately I think the woman was certainly at fault. If she was feeling that sick she should have seen a doctor.
I feel very sorry for her children, as she was doing this contest in order to win the game system (it was the actual system if I'm not mistaken, not just a game for the system) for them, and it ended up killing her. As a fairly literal child, I would certainly have felt that I had contributed to my mom's death, and that is hugely unfair for a child to have to bear that burden.

[Ehelldame]

A review of the forum rules may be in order:

Sensational news stories are not typically germane to the topic of etiquette and thus are not usually allowed unless a good link to etiquette can be made.