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Posted by Cyndi Allison Jan 20, 2007 |
Jennifer Strange was 28-years-old with three kids. She wanted to win a Wii video game player for her kids in a radio contest. All she had to do was drink the most water to win. She came close. She was second. She even got tickets to a Justin Timberlake concert that night.
Jennifer didn't make the concert. She died.
It's rare for someone to die from drinking too much water, but it does happen. There are some cases from the 1990s involving fraternity hazing and water drinking deaths.
The really tragic thing about Jennifer's death is that people did call the station to express concerns about the contest. The DJs just laughed off the callers. One caller even said that she was a nurse. She said the contest was dangerous. Ha. Ha. One of the DJs said that the contestants signed releases. You can hear the audio online.
Now, Jennifer is dead. Her three kids don't have a Wii or a mother.
The DJs were fired, but that doesn't bring back Jennifer.
It is important to drink water - but in reasonable amounts. A lot of people walk around dehydrated. A little extra water means more energy and a better working body in general. I was feeling bad last month, and my doctor said that I was not getting enough water. Adding water helped a lot. But, I sure didn't drink two gallons in a short period of time. And, I wouldn't. It would be nice to have a Wii player, but life goes on without one.
My heart goes out to Jennifer's family. I'm sure she never dreamed that a contest could end her life. I don't think the DJs did either, but they should have listened to concerned callers. It would be bad enough if they hadn't had a clue. They got the warnings, but they ignored them. Now, a woman is dead.