SACRAMENTO, Calif., Jan. 17, 2007
Ten Fired After Radio Contest Tragedy
Woman Died Despite Listener Warning On Danger Of Chugging Too Much Water
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Water Intoxication Death
A Sacramento radio station cancelled a popular radio show after a woman died from drinking too much water during a contest to win a Nintendo Wii. Manuel Gallegus reports.
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Deadly Radio Stunt
Jennifer Strange died after competing for a Nintendo Wii during a water drinking contest, Hold Your Wee For A Wii, sponsored by a California radio station. KOVR's Steve Large reports.
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(iStockphoto)
The hosts of the KDND-FM "Morning Rave" show - who go by the on-air names Trish, Maney and Lukas - were fired a day after the station suspended the show and said it is investigating the circumstances surrounding the death.
Jennifer Lea Strange, 28, died after participating in a water-drinking contest on the hit music radio station, which calls itself – playing on the sound of its call letters – The End.
CBS News station KOVR-TV reports that during the contest, a listener - self-identified as a nurse - called the live radio broadcast and warned that the game was dangerous.
"I want to say that those people drinking all that water can get sick and die from water intoxication," said the caller.
"Yeah, we're aware of that," replied a DJ, according to the broadcast news report. "They signed releases so we're not responsible, okay?"
Donnie Logsdon – one of the 18 contestants trying to win a Nintendo Wii gaming console by drinking the most water without going to the bathroom – tells KOVR-TV news that they didn't hear that on-air warning in the room where he and the others were filling up way beyond comfort.
"Maybe she would have walked away," says Logsdon. "But we didn't hear that inside there."
Strange was second to last to stop drinking, and when she bowed out, she did say on the air that she was not feeling well.
"My head hurts. They keep telling me that it's the water...that it will
tell my head to hurt and it'll make me puke." Strange told the DJ, live on the air, before leaving the station. "Who told you that, the intern?" was the DJ's response, according to the KOVR-TV news report on the radio show.
John Geary, vice president and general manager of KDND parent company, Entercom/Sacramento, announced the firings Tuesday in an e-mail to reporters: "Effective immediately, the 'Morning Rave' program is canceled and ten employees are no longer with the station."
A company spokesman, Charles Sipkins, confirmed that the three DJs, as well as two other on-air personalities, "Carter" and "Fester," are among those fired. Five other employees who worked on the "Morning Rave" also were let go. All 10 were fired, the spokesman said, for violating terms of their employee agreements.
The "Morning Rave" had been on the air for about five years and was one of Sacramento's top-rated morning radio shows.
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.
The contest was called "Hold your Wee for a Wii."
Contestant James Ybarra said he quit drinking after imbibing eight bottles, but Strange, who placed second, and other would-be winners kept going even after they were handed even larger containers.
In all, according to witness reports, Strange may have drunk nearly two gallons. Afterward, she appeared ill when she went on the air, one contestant said.
After the contest, Strange called in sick to work, crying and saying she was heading home in terrible pain. About five hours later, Strange – who had three children - was found dead by her mother at her home in the Sacramento suburb of Rancho Cordova.
According to the Sacramento County coroner, preliminary autopsy findings indicate she died of water intoxication.
Drinking large quantities of water rapidly can throw off the body's balance of electrolytes, causing brain swelling and leading to seizures, coma, or even death.
In February 2005, a Chico State University student died after drinking too much water in a hazing incident at a fraternity. Matthew Carrington was forced to repeatedly drink from a 5-gallon jug and then do calisthenics.
In that case, one fraternity member pleaded guilty to felony involuntary manslaughter and two others pleaded guilty to being accessories to manslaughter, among other charges.
Sgt. Tim Curran, spokesman for the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department, which would have jurisdiction over the KDND incident, said officers are not investigating Strange's death.
"It was a contest and people are saying there was no coercion. On its face, it appears it was all done voluntarily, and no criminal activity was involved," Curran said.
In the studio, Ybarra said Strange showed fellow contestants photographs of her two sons and daughter, for whom she was hoping to win the Nintendo Wii. The game console retails for about $250.
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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See all 88 CommentsHOWEVER, the people who participated were also responsible to check for bodily harm with ingesting too much water.
Very sad indeed.
I disagree with the person who thinks these people should not have lost their jobs. They introduced stupidity which caused the loss of life. They could have come up with a safer contest than this. They allowed this contest to continue on AFTER being warned that this was dangerous. They should be held liable in that form. This is not to say the people participating shouldn't be held accountable.
Just stupidity all the way around, all for a console priced at around $250/300?
It seems our society is filled with amoral self-serving people whose only goal in life is to advance their own careers and bank accounts at the expense of other people.
I am afraid that the almighty dollar is the only God many of us acknowledge.
If all the above is true, perhaps a few more people should share the burden of responsibility.
Stupid incident? Absolutely. Someone on the station's staff probably should've researched the safety of the contest before launching it.
The deceased signed a waiver without truly understanding the danger. After all, who would think drinking water could kill you? Clearly not this mother of three. Obviously, not the radio station.
This was an avoidable (and tragic) accident.
And there are those who say the Bible doesn't know what it's talking about and it's way too dangerous to let our kids read it in a public school classroom. Well, fancy that.
Repremanded yes but not fired. The station should set up a fund for each child for their futures. Let this be a hard lesson learned for the shows that have these stupid, stupid contests. Do your homework people. Inform loudly what can happen and by all means have medical personnel available during the contests just in case.
When she signed this release I'm sure she had a reasonable expectation of coming out of it alive. The people holding the contest didn't do their homework, ignored warnings, and made light of her being ill. They are responsible.
All for a laugh - sad, really sad.
Yeah - the Bible knows what it's talking about dovestar.
/sarcasm off
Posted by guilianelli at 08:06 AM : Jan 17, 2007
That would be assisted suicide, also against the law....(smile)
At the very least she should have checked to see if this was something safe to do.
My life is valuable and I would have checked.
I find it hard to believe the station manager did not sign off on this contest- where is the responsibility of management in this? Did anyone have a health professional check this out?
I would think the on-air talent (along with their producers) runs any contest by management. It appears to me that it is management's responsibility to make sure it is OK and sign off on it.
A lot of times it is management (along with the sales department) that come up with these contests.
It appears the on-air talent was fired because they dismissed the warnings of danger from one caller and didn't seem concerned about Ms. Strange when she complained about a severe headache.
Why no one in management has been fired is strange- unless this contest was done without approval. If that is the case, the general manager still should be let go because he/she could have stopped it.
what?? ruined careers?? they were warned DURING the contest of it's danger.. they let it continue.. close the station..
Another problem is that I don't think many people know about water intoxication and it's effects. I happened to read an article that said that this is a problem with marathon runners. They drink so much water that it throws off the balance of salt and electrolytes in the body. They are always stressing the importance of drinking plenty of water. Just goes to show you that too much of anything can kill you. Hopefully the result of this is that people running contests will thouroughly research them and participants will take responsibilty for themselves and research them as well and not rely on other people to verify that things are safe.
In the first place. The original article indicated she worked in a Radiological Associates office, without stating what her job was. Do you know what a Radiological office is??? That is where you go for freakin exrays. I've been to many, not one had a nurse. They have receptionists and xray techs, but not nurses- and the training for an xray tech is 1/500 the training for a nurse, So the supposition she "should have known" is full of cr@p.
I'm in my 60's and this is the first time I've heard of death by water intoxication. drowning, yes... but you die from lack of oxygen, not the water... binge boozing, yes... but you die of organ paralysis from the alcohol, not the water content.
The sponsors of this so called contest had the onus to fully investigate any and all possible consequences of their contest. they did not. so obviously, they could not issue an adequate warning to the contestants.
If the nurse that posted is correct and death is caused by an electrolyte imbalance causing brain swelling, then this station, if they had done their homework, could have substituted a power drink that contained electrolytes, such as gatoraide. the contest would not have been affected and the risks would have been greatly reduced.
People are responsible for their actions up to the point of common knowledge or sense. That does not include extraordinary knowledge such as water intoxication.
1. Is the organizer fully released of any responsibility after the contestant signed a probably generic release form.
2. The cynical response of a DJ to a nurse warning of potentially fatal consequences sounds like a complete disregard for well-being of contestants as long as it makes it for a good rating. To me it was a criminal act.
3. The potential risks should have been fully researched by orginizers and clearly spelled out in the release form.
4. Why wasn't a a medical staff on stand by in case something went wrong.
5. Firing of 10 people associated with the show is not enough. The responsility also lies with station owners and managers.
6. When people will finally come to thier senses
and stop endangering themselves in those stupid reality shows and contests.
7. Will the radio station provide for 3 small children orphaned by their negligence.
Hopefully this "accident" will serve as a warning to organizers and participants alike. Ratings and money cannot be a driving force.
"Lets stop and think about these gamebox makers who only make so many as a market strategy, and price them so *** high that single mothers and even reg. incomed family can't afford them!! When will we start make the makers responsible? Yes, I'm glad they fired them(radio personal) It is their responsibility as journalist( even of the radio) to do their homework!! It is also the responsibility of these game makers, when is enough enough!!!"
Give me a friggin break! Blaming the game companies because they're not putting out enough games, or companies that put out products that some people can't afford, and now they're supposed to be responsible for other people's ridiculous mistakes?!? You're what's wrong with society today.
Good Lord don't do that! Gatorade (and the host of others of that ilk) are designed to be consumed in reasonable amounts. Find a substance designed specifically for moronic contests!
Also, sesavjo, don't call people unintelligent and iiliterate (sic) until after you've found a good spell checker.
Just as dire economic circumstances are a form of coercion, promises made in a winner-take-all society bent on blaming every victim are too. Making people believe you are not harming them when in fact you are is as well.
This person had a reasonable belief that the contest wouldn't put her life at risk. The contest violated that social contract and coerced her by a promise of enrichment that she otherwise had no access to.
Ask ten people on the street about water intoxication and I'll bet ten of them don't know about it.
As for those "personal responsibility" folks, where is the "personal responsibility" from all the other actors?
This is horrible and senseless, but blaming the victim is really beyond the pale. I believe the radio station had no intent to harm, but they do bear responsibility. Firing those people is an excellent beginning.
to say natural selection is not ignorant and a lack of intelligence. She made the decision to do what she did and faced the outcome. I fully expect to face the concequence for anything that I choose to do and do not try to blame the outcome on someone else. That is what everyone is doing. I do agree that the radio station is partly responsible however to think that higher managment is responsable is obserd. I guarentee that all the higher management had no idea even about the contest. Now people are going ti fire and ruin yet more carreers over something that someone had no knowlegde of. The problem is that people today are trying to deflect blame to everyone else but the person that actually could have easiestly prevented it. Instead of everyone takeing responsiblitiy for their own actions its always someone elses fault. Here she should have took 2 min and googled what she was doing and educated herself and the problem is solved. Instead people arre blaming everyone else for her actions. This is why I say natural selection. In my mind nobody forced water down her throat and she could have prevented everyhting very easily by EDUCATION. Everyone should start taking responsibility for their own actions instead of blaming others. Especially if you have kids because you are not just concerned with yourself more the reason to be educated about what you do.
Good Lord don't do that! Gatorade (and the host of others of that ilk) are designed to be consumed in reasonable amounts. Find a substance designed specifically for moronic contests!
Also, sesavjo, don't call people unintelligent and iiliterate (sic) until after you've found a good spell checker.
Just as dire economic circumstances are a form of coercion, promises made in a winner-take-all society bent on blaming every victim are too. Making people believe you are not harming them when in fact you are is as well.
This person had a reasonable belief that the contest wouldn't put her life at risk. The contest violated that social contract and coerced her by a promise of enrichment that she otherwise had no access to.
Ask ten people on the street about water intoxication and I'll bet ten of them don't know about it.
As for those "personal responsibility" folks, where is the "personal responsibility" from all the other actors?
This is horrible and senseless, but blaming the victim is really beyond the pale. I believe the radio station had no intent to harm, but they do bear responsibility. Firing those people is an excellent beginning.
Just as dire economic circumstances are a form of coercion, promises made in a winner-take-all society bent on blaming every victim are too. Making people believe you are not harming them when in fact you are is as well.
This person had a reasonable belief that the contest wouldn't put her life at risk. The contest violated that social contract and coerced her by a promise of enrichment that she otherwise had no access to.
Ask ten people on the street about water intoxication and I'll bet ten of them don't know about it.
As for those "personal responsibility" folks, where is the "personal responsibility" from all the other actors?
This is horrible and senseless, but blaming the victim is really beyond the pale. I believe the radio station had no intent to harm, but they do bear responsibility. Firing those people is an excellent beginning.
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That being said, I do feel for the family of Ms. Strange. The loss of a family member is always a tragedy, regardless of the circumstances.
She should have never been allowed to leave the site without being checked out first as she was IMMEDIATELY showing symptoms of water intoxication.
I would like to see the management fired and not the radio actors who are doing their job to entertain and get more and more listeners for the station to increase their advertising dollar profits. The DJ's are not responsible for legal and insurance issues - they work the equipment and perform. The DJ's job is to keep the ratings up ( and thus the profist up) - the management's job is to handle administrative details.
It is a sad world we live in that a single mom can not earn a enough to get a $250 game system for her family. Can you imagine her children knowing their mom died trying to get them a Wii ? Perhaps people can learn there are more important things than material possessions. Probably not .. but one can always hope.
Apparently I don't so please clarify. It's supposed to be fun for you while I get called a '***' and an 'idiot without exception?'
And to clarify on my part, I'm not a literary expert either. I tell my HS students (who are math students, not literary) that bad writing communicates bad reasoning. I guess I'm from an old enough generation that I have trouble letting go of such conventions as correct spelling, grammar and syntax in arenas such as this. 'My bad!'
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