Woman's Death After Water-Drinking Contest Investigated
KNBC-TV
10:26 a.m. PST January 16, 2007
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Authorities in Sacramento County, Calif., are looking into the death of a woman who had competed in a radio station contest last week. A medical examiner said the woman died of water intoxication.
Water intoxication is a condition that causes the organs -- especially the brain -- to swell.
Jennifer Strange, 28, had taken part in a contest to see how much water she could drink without going to the bathroom. Strange was found dead Friday in her suburban Rancho Cordova home hours after taking part in the "Hold Your Wee for a Wii"contest held by Sacramento radio station KDND FM. Strange placed second in the contest.
"I feel horrible, you know, because you don't think water's going to kill you. You're having fun at the radio station trying to win a little contest. You don't think it's going to turn deadly," said Lucy Davidson, the contest's winner.
The station had promised a Nintendo Wii video game system for the winner. The station's owner said staff members were stunned when they learned of the death. It's not yet known how much water Strange consumed.
The radio station's Web site did not have any indication of the story Monday morning.
Two people who competed in a radio station's water drinking contest with a 28-year-old mother of three who later died said they were never warned they were putting their health at risk, a newspaper reported Monday.
Gina Sherrod said that family members listening in on KDND-FM's "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" contest told her that a nurse called into the program to warn that drinking too much water was dangerous, but that she did not worry until she learned of Jennifer Lea Strange's death.
"I was so scared," Sherrod told The Sacramento Bee on Sunday. "I had the hardest time going to sleep last night because I was afraid I wouldn't get up."
Strange was one of about 18 participants who tried to win a Nintendo Wii gaming console early Friday by seeing how much water they could drink without going to the bathroom. She was found dead several hours later, and the Sacramento County coroner said she died of water intoxication.
During the contest, participants were given two minutes to drink an 8-ounce bottle of water and then given another bottle to drink after a 10-minute break.
Fellow contestant James Ybarra said he quit drinking after imbibing eight bottles, but Stange, who placed second, and others kept going even after they were handed even larger containers.
Strange showed other participants photographs of her two sons and daughter, for whom she was hoping to win the Nintendo Wii, Ybarra said.
"It is sad that a mother had to lose her life to get something for her kids," he told The Bee. "None of us knew this could be a risk to our health."
Contestants qualified for the event by recounting the worst Christmas gifts they'd received. Strange said her worst gift was a set of champagne flutes wrapped like roses that shattered when she opened them, according to Sherrod.
Strange also mentioned that she and friends had sixth-row tickets to a Justin Timberlake concert that night.
Sherrod said she managed to drink half of a larger bottle before she became nauseated and had to leave.
"I felt drunk and really out of it," she said.
Strange's mother found her daughter's body at home Friday in the Sacramento suburb of Rancho Cordova after Strange called her supervisor at her job to say she was heading home in terrible pain.
Strange's husband, William Strange, 27, issued a written statement late Sunday in which he described his wife's giving nature.
"Friday, Jennifer was just her bright, usual self," he wrote. "She was trying to win something for her family that she thought we would enjoy. ... We miss her dearly. She was my girl."
John Geary, general manager of the company that owns KDND, told the newspaper in an e-mail that the station's staff was stunned by news of Strange's death.
"We are awaiting information that will help explain how this tragic event occurred. Our sympathies are with the family and friends of Jennifer Strange, as they deal with circumstances that are so difficult to comprehend."
In a similar tragedy, a Chico University fraternity pledge died of water poisoning in 2005.
Matthew Carrington, 21, of Pleasant Hill had a heart attack and died during a fraternity hazing, authorities said.
Four men pleaded guilty to contributing to Carrington's death by forcing him to drink so much water in a fraternity basement in such a short period of time that his heart stopped.
A college student in New York died from forced consumption of water in 2003, according to records.
He was forced to drink so many pitchers of water through a funnel that the sodium in his body dropped to lethal levels and his brain swelled. He died of hyponatremia, according to an autopsy.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16656145/
KNBC-TV
10:26 a.m. PST January 16, 2007
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Authorities in Sacramento County, Calif., are looking into the death of a woman who had competed in a radio station contest last week. A medical examiner said the woman died of water intoxication.
Water intoxication is a condition that causes the organs -- especially the brain -- to swell.
Jennifer Strange, 28, had taken part in a contest to see how much water she could drink without going to the bathroom. Strange was found dead Friday in her suburban Rancho Cordova home hours after taking part in the "Hold Your Wee for a Wii"contest held by Sacramento radio station KDND FM. Strange placed second in the contest.
"I feel horrible, you know, because you don't think water's going to kill you. You're having fun at the radio station trying to win a little contest. You don't think it's going to turn deadly," said Lucy Davidson, the contest's winner.
The station had promised a Nintendo Wii video game system for the winner. The station's owner said staff members were stunned when they learned of the death. It's not yet known how much water Strange consumed.
The radio station's Web site did not have any indication of the story Monday morning.
Two people who competed in a radio station's water drinking contest with a 28-year-old mother of three who later died said they were never warned they were putting their health at risk, a newspaper reported Monday.
Gina Sherrod said that family members listening in on KDND-FM's "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" contest told her that a nurse called into the program to warn that drinking too much water was dangerous, but that she did not worry until she learned of Jennifer Lea Strange's death.
"I was so scared," Sherrod told The Sacramento Bee on Sunday. "I had the hardest time going to sleep last night because I was afraid I wouldn't get up."
Strange was one of about 18 participants who tried to win a Nintendo Wii gaming console early Friday by seeing how much water they could drink without going to the bathroom. She was found dead several hours later, and the Sacramento County coroner said she died of water intoxication.
During the contest, participants were given two minutes to drink an 8-ounce bottle of water and then given another bottle to drink after a 10-minute break.
Fellow contestant James Ybarra said he quit drinking after imbibing eight bottles, but Stange, who placed second, and others kept going even after they were handed even larger containers.
Strange showed other participants photographs of her two sons and daughter, for whom she was hoping to win the Nintendo Wii, Ybarra said.
"It is sad that a mother had to lose her life to get something for her kids," he told The Bee. "None of us knew this could be a risk to our health."
Contestants qualified for the event by recounting the worst Christmas gifts they'd received. Strange said her worst gift was a set of champagne flutes wrapped like roses that shattered when she opened them, according to Sherrod.
Strange also mentioned that she and friends had sixth-row tickets to a Justin Timberlake concert that night.
Sherrod said she managed to drink half of a larger bottle before she became nauseated and had to leave.
"I felt drunk and really out of it," she said.
Strange's mother found her daughter's body at home Friday in the Sacramento suburb of Rancho Cordova after Strange called her supervisor at her job to say she was heading home in terrible pain.
Strange's husband, William Strange, 27, issued a written statement late Sunday in which he described his wife's giving nature.
"Friday, Jennifer was just her bright, usual self," he wrote. "She was trying to win something for her family that she thought we would enjoy. ... We miss her dearly. She was my girl."
John Geary, general manager of the company that owns KDND, told the newspaper in an e-mail that the station's staff was stunned by news of Strange's death.
"We are awaiting information that will help explain how this tragic event occurred. Our sympathies are with the family and friends of Jennifer Strange, as they deal with circumstances that are so difficult to comprehend."
In a similar tragedy, a Chico University fraternity pledge died of water poisoning in 2005.
Matthew Carrington, 21, of Pleasant Hill had a heart attack and died during a fraternity hazing, authorities said.
Four men pleaded guilty to contributing to Carrington's death by forcing him to drink so much water in a fraternity basement in such a short period of time that his heart stopped.
A college student in New York died from forced consumption of water in 2003, according to records.
He was forced to drink so many pitchers of water through a funnel that the sodium in his body dropped to lethal levels and his brain swelled. He died of hyponatremia, according to an autopsy.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16656145/