water kills

Started by 49er, Jan 18 07 11:37

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49er

[A href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/01/18/MNGMMNKOHS1.DTL"]A stupid radio stunt's tragic finale
Sacramento DJs joked as contestant guzzled fatal quantity of water
[/A] [FONT size=2][/FONT]
[FONT face=geneva,arial size=1]- [A href="mailto:[email protected]"]C.W. Nevius[/A]
[/FONT][FONT face=geneva,arial size=-2]Thursday, January 18, 2007
[/FONT] [A href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2007/01/18/MNGMMNKOHS1.DTL&o=0&type=printable" target=""][img alt="Click to View" hspace=1 src="http://www.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2007/01/18_t/ba_water_intoxicatio_t.gif" vspace=1 border=0][/A][A href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2007/01/18/MNGMMNKOHS1.DTL&o=1&type=printable" target=""][img alt="Click to View" hspace=1 src="http://www.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2007/01/18_t/ba_nevius17_t.gif" vspace=1 border=0][/A][A href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2007/01/18/MNGMMNKOHS1.DTL&o=2&type=printable" target=""][img alt="Click to View" hspace=1 src="http://www.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2007/01/18_t/ba_all_fraternity_death_t.gif" vspace=1 border=0][/A]  There were lots of reasons to think Jennifer Strange was in deep trouble after she spent hours guzzling in a water-drinking contest at a Sacramento radio station.  "I asked her, 'How do you feel?' " said Elidia Campos, one of 20 contestants. "She said, 'Oh, my God. I feel so awful, I'm about to pass out.' ''  But the DJs at KDND-FM apparently figured that was her problem, wasn't it? It was her choice to enter Friday morning's contest. The hosts can be heard joking on an [A href="http://www.sacbee.com/static/newsroom/kdndslides/" target='_BLANK"']audiotape[/A] of Friday's show about how Strange's stomach was distended from drinking nearly 2 gallons of water, and they teased her and other contestants because they did not "look so good."  Told by another DJ that "We got a guy who's just about to die," one of the jocks had a quick response.  "Make sure he signs the release," he chortled, setting off gales of laughter in the studio.  It was, in short, typical dumbbell morning radio, featuring the kind of stupid stunts and heckling that have raised ratings on stations across the nation. It has certainly worked for KDND's "The Morning Rave," which has become one of Sacramento's top-rated drive-time shows. And if you found their antics mean and offensive, maybe you just weren't cool enough to get the joke.  Then Jennifer Strange died.  Twenty-eight years old, married and the mother of three, Strange had entered the "Hold your Wee for a Wii'' contest to try to win a Nintendo Wii video game player for her kids. Contestants had to drink as much water as they could without going to the bathroom. What Strange didn't know was that after drinking so much water in a little over four hours, she'd given herself a deadly condition that the coroner would later say was consistent with water intoxication. She was found dead that afternoon in her Rancho Cordova home.  Strange was one of the original 20 contestants who were put in a room with one DJ separate from the studio where they could not hear on-air comments or callers. Once the contest was narrowed down to two, Strange and the eventual winner, Lucy Davidson, were brought into the studio.  None of the contestants had any idea what they had gotten themselves into.  "I thought it was just water," Campos says, "that it would just flush out my body. I just assumed that because it was a contest, everything would be checked out."  Hardly. As the contestants dropped out, it became clear that some of them were having serious health problems. Not that anyone at the station seemed concerned.  "There was a girl on the floor," says Campos, who made it to the final five. "She must have been there for an hour with her teeth chattering. They were heckling her."  "Your body is 98 percent water," one of the hosts remarked to his on-air audience. "Why can't you take in as much water as you want?"  Because, as many of us in the Bay Area learned two years ago, an excess of water creates a physical shutdown. Pleasant Hill college student Matt Carrington died in 2005 of water intoxication in a hazing incident at a Cal State Chico fraternity.  In fact, Carrington's case came up on Friday. Someone in the studio mentioned "that poor kid in college," but another DJ responded that Carrington "was doing other things."  No, actually, he wasn't. As a listener who identified herself as "Eve" told the morning crew, people "can get sick and possibly die from water intoxication."  "We're aware of that," one jock replied. And another jumped in to wisecrack that everyone in the contest had signed releases, "so we're not responsible."  Another joke. Are those guys zany and irreverent or what?  Well, here's another good one. Sacramento sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Tim Curran said Wednesday that the department feels that it has enough information to begin an investigation. Originally, the sheriff had said that because the contestants entered under their own free will, there might have been no crime.  But that changed after investigators heard a tape this week of the on-air conversations and how the hosts disregarded the caller's warnings and signs that Strange and other contestants were experiencing symptoms of intoxication. Sacramento district attorney's office spokeswoman Lana Wyant said prosecutors will be watching the results of the investigation as they consider filing charges.  Station Vice President and General Manager John Geary issued a statement of sympathy on Tuesday. The same day, the station announced that it had fired 10 staff members, including the five hosts of the "Morning Rave," which was canceled.  Meanwhile, the lawsuits are likely to stretch from here to the top of the Sierra. A legal action is already in the works from an attorney representing the Strange family. Because as tragic as Strange's death was, other contestants on Friday were nearly as ill.  "No one was more sick than anyone else," Campos says. "We were so out of it, so disoriented. I felt like I was drunk. There was no way I could make a rational decision, especially with people egging you on."  Campos dropped out with two other contestants when one of them began to vomit. That triggered two others to throw up, although it didn't help when one of the DJs made retching sounds to encourage heaving.  "I had cold sweats, my head hurt, and I can't even guess how many times I threw up on the way home," Campos says. "I passed out in bed at 11 (a.m.) and didn't wake up until my husband shook me awake at 6 that night."  Campos wonders if she somehow could have intervened when Strange became very ill. They talked about their kids, watched a video on Campos' DVD player, and commiserated about how terrible they felt.  "We totally had a moment together," says Campos, 33. "She talked about her kids the whole time. I just can't stop thinking about it."  Meanwhile, Lukas, Maney and Trish, hosts of "The Morning Rave," released a statement.  "At this time," it said, "we would like to express our deepest condolences to the family of Jennifer Strange. We want to thank all of our listeners for their continued support and we ask that you join us by keeping Jennifer and her family in your thoughts and prayers."  Now they're sorry? What a joke.
 
Drinking too much water can be fatal  Water intoxication: When a person drinks large quantities of water rapidly, the normal balance of electrolytes in the body can be diluted to the point that brain function is disturbed, leading to light-headedness, nausea, vomiting, headaches and sometimes death.  Who's at risk: Anyone who drinks too much water too fast can be affected, but infants, marathon runners and people working in extreme heat are particularly vulnerable. Drinking fluids made to replace electrolytes can help prevent intoxication.
 
Another recent case  Cal State Chico student Matthew Carrington, 21, of Pleasant Hill, collapsed and died of heart failure after members of a fraternity forced him to drink excessive amounts of water while he performed calisthenics during a hazing ritual on Feb. 2, 2005. Four members of the Chi Tau fraternity pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter.  Audio link  To listen to conversations between the DJs and Jennifer Strange,  go [A href="http://www.sacbee.com/static/newsroom/kdndslides/" target='_BLANK"']here.[/A]  C.W. Nevius' column appears regularly. His blog, C.W. Nevius.blog, and podcast, "News Wrap," can be found at sfgate.com. E-mail him at [A href="mailto:[email protected]"][email protected][/A].  Page A - 1
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Sportsdude

Yup I knew this all along.  A lot of fraternities went to drinking a bunch of water instead of beer during pledge week and a kid died from doing the same thing.  Not good.
"We can't stop here. This is bat country."

Lise

What a terrible story. Feel sorry for the mother. It shouldn't have happened. Water can kill, I don't know why those idiots didn't stop when they should have. Well, now they'll have the death of a young mother to deal with.
Always end the name of your child with a vowel, so that when you yell the name will carry.
Bill Cosby.

Future Canadian

Lock those a-holes in a room and make them go through the same thing until one of them dies, that would be the only way to justice. I volunteer to taunt them.  
...religion has made some contributions to civilization. It helped in the early days to fix the calendar, and it caused Egyptian priests to chronicle ecplipses with such care that in time they were able to predict them. These two services I am prepared to acknowledge, but I do not know of any others

P.C.

As sad as it is, I have a feeling their actions were based in ignorance, and not malice.  Unfortunately, the outcome is the same.  It's heartbreaking that this woman leaves 3 children motherless.
Sir Isaac Newton invented the swinging door....for the convenience of his cat.

Sportsdude

I have a feeling this will end up on a "ripped from the headlines" Law and Order.
"We can't stop here. This is bat country."

49er

P.C. wrote:
As sad as it is, I have a feeling their actions were based in ignorance, and not malice.  Unfortunately, the outcome is the same.  It's heartbreaking that this woman leaves 3 children motherless.[/DIV]
 a tape was replayed in the news on TV today where a caller on the air warned the DJ of the danger and cited the death of the college student during this stunt

kingy

this was a freak accident. i know i would of never thought that someone could die from drinking a gallon of water. this was a contest that was probably approved by the station and now, the disc jockey gets fired over it? sounds like the station needs a bunch of scapegoats.

  the really, really sad part of it all is the person that died finished second!  
...

P.C.

Yes, 49er....that could be their downfall.

 In spite of that (and believe me, I'm not making excuses for their idiocy) I believe that simple ignorance on their part didn't allow them to consider the possiblity that the caller KNEW what they were talking about.
Sir Isaac Newton invented the swinging door....for the convenience of his cat.

Russ

P.C. wrote:
 Yes, 49er....that could be their downfall.

In spite of that (and believe me, I'm not making excuses for their idiocy) I believe that simple ignorance on their part didn't allow them to consider the possiblity that the caller KNEW what they were talking about.[/DIV]
 I actually 100% agree with you PC. I would not think you could die from drinking water.. they do say to drink like 8 pints of water a day!! If I was drinking alot of water for whatever reason and someone told me (before this) that you could die from it I would thank the person and send them on their way...
Mercy to the Guilty is Torture to the Victims

Sportsdude

you do anything in excess it will kill you. anything.  
"We can't stop here. This is bat country."

49er

Russ wrote:
I actually 100% agree with you PC. I would not think you could die from drinking water.. they do say to drink like 8 pints of water a day!! If I was drinking alot of water for whatever reason and someone told me (before this) that you could die from it I would thank the person and send them on their way...[/DIV]
 Its not just by the amount of water one drinks but how fast the water is consumed

  [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff00"]Water intoxication: When a person drinks large quantities of water rapidly, the normal balance of electrolytes in the body can be diluted to the point that brain function is disturbed, leading to light-headedness, nausea, vomiting, headaches and sometimes death.[/FONT]

P.C.

As far as the drinking eight, 8oz glasses of water that 'they' say you should drink, I just posted in another thread (can't remember which one) that 'they' have been touting this for years, but the science and medical community say there are zero studies to support this.  On the contrary, there has been an increase in kidney problems and various other ailments that are directly related to the over consumption of water.    
Sir Isaac Newton invented the swinging door....for the convenience of his cat.

Lise

Y'know, I did asked the dietitian about this and she said it's not true. You drink only as much as your body tells you and not the 8 glasses of water. Afterall, you get water from different sources like your fruits and vegetables.

  She did say that drinking a cup of coffee doesn't count. Though water in content, they're direuretic (spelling?) and goes through your body. None of the nutriants remained.
Always end the name of your child with a vowel, so that when you yell the name will carry.
Bill Cosby.