SACRAMENTO, Calif., Jan. 18, 2007
Police Probe Water Intoxication Death
California Woman's Death After Radio Station Contest Sparks Homicide Investigation
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Play CBS Video Video 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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Video 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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In this undated photo provided by the California Department of Motor Vehicles, Jennifer Strange, 28, of Rancho Cordova, Calif., is shown. (AP Photo)
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On a tape of the Jan. 12 show, disc jockeys on KDND-FM's "Morning Rave" joke about the possible dangers of consuming too much water, at one point alluding to a college student who died during such a stunt in 2005.
During the contest, a listener - self-identified as a nurse - called the live radio broadcast and warned that the game was dangerous, CBS News station KOVR-TV reported.
"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," one of them said.
Another DJ laughed: "Yeah, they signed releases, so we're not responsible. We're OK."
"And if they get to the point where they have to throw up, then they're going to throw up, and they're out of the contest before they die, so that's good, right?" another one said.
The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department decided to pursue the investigation Wednesday after listening to the tape, obtained by The Sacramento Bee newspaper, sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Tim Curran said.
Jennifer Lea Strange, a 28-year-old mother of three, was one of about 18 contestants who tried to win a Nintendo Wii gaming console by determining how much water they could drink without going to the bathroom. The show's DJs called the contest "Hold your Wee for a Wii."
"Hey, Carter, is anybody dying in there?" a DJ asked during the show. "We got a guy who's just about to die," the other responded, and all the DJs laughed.
"I like that we laugh about that," another said.
"Make sure he signs the release. ... Get the insurance on that, please."
Strange participated in the contest during the morning in the studio and was found dead that afternoon. The county coroner said preliminary autopsy findings indicate she died of water intoxication.
Other contestants said Strange may have ingested as much as two gallons of water. Several hours into the contest, Strange was interviewed on the air and complained that her head hurt.
"They keep telling me that it's the water. That it will tell my head to hurt and then it will make me puke," she said.
Strange won the second-place prize, tickets to a Justin Timberlake concert. She commented on the tape that she looked pregnant, and a female DJ agreed.
"Oh, my gosh, look at that belly. That's full of water. ... Come on over, Jennifer, you OK?" the DJ asked. "You going to pass out right now? Too much water?"
The winner of the contest, Lucy Davidson, said she collapsed just 15 minutes after leaving the station with her prize. "I didn’t know what was wrong with me. I just knew I had never felt so sick in my life," Davidson told KOVR.
Davidson said Strange's stomach protruded over her waist as the contest ended.
"As soon as we went to the bathroom we both came out of the stalls. I looked over at her and she probably looked as pale as I did," Davidson said.
On Tuesday, KDND's parent company, Entercom/Sacramento, fired 10 employees connected to the contest, including three morning disc jockeys. The company also took the morning show off the air.
Station spokesman Charles Sipkins said Wednesday that the company had not yet heard from the sheriff's department but that it would cooperate with the investigation.
Attorneys for the Strange family said Wednesday they plan to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the radio station.
© 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 26 CommentsFortunately I did know, because right after that college hazing incident, my son became a participant of a high school football team whose coach requires the players to drink a gallon of water everyday. They are asked to bring the bottle to school with them as a reminder to drink. My son was so gungho about being on the team, that he immediately drank a gallon of water, probably within a 1 1/2 hour timespan and began a second. I had to tell him to slow down drinking the water and let him know about the dangers of drinking too much. Now he only drinks a gallon, but this just demonstrates what happens when people just don't know. Water intoxication is not something that is taught in school, students are taught, the dangers of alcohol abuse, smoking, ***, etc. The article I saw after the hazing incident said that 3 gallons could be dangerous. So we need to inform our friends, family, etc.
Azngrrl220 said: "...the individual trusted this station...It is highly doubtable that the individual entered the contest believing that she would die."
That's exactly why people need to think before they leap into an act that's outside the scope of normal every day activity (& when it comes to the possibility of leaving children w/out a parent they need to think with their hearts). Some posters argued that we are encouraged to drink water for our health. Of course! Because people sweat it out & normally one uses the toilet when the body (which obviously can be smarter than the brain as this contest scenerio demonstrates) makes the announcement: "Gotta go!"
Common sense dictates that to fight that natural need to eliminate is going to be a disaster. In this case it was the worst case.
It just goes back to don't use/abuse your body! Sheesh- no one would want to intentionally cause a flood in their basement because of the resulting damage to the foundation. Why would anyone flood their beautiful, precious, fragile body?
Our society is indeed very materialistic but several citizens fail to realize that the individual trusted this station and wanted to simply please her kids. It is highly doubtable that the individual entered the contest believing that she would die.
A lot of people had stated that they knew that water intoxication existed but is this true? I believe not. On a recent online poll i saw, approximately 28% of the people who participated in this poll did not know of the water intoxication before this case. This is a classic case that involves "hindsight bias". Even i did not know about water intoxication. And last year i just took AP Bio...
Regardless of which, all the readers reading this should be considerate to the family. Stating such negative statements like "Oh that was stupid" is not helping the family. She was a wife, mother, and friend.
As to my bias, i believe the station were very irresponsible. They were warned of the dangers and went on with the contest. None of the contestants were really aware of this issue. Whether or not there were waivers, a death is inexcusable. The station should have warned the contestants about the dangers of this contest before they proceeded....
Young mom willing to risk her life for computer game. What does this say about our society?
17 other people were willing to do this.
This is a litigious society. No one at Entercom ran this by legal before they advertised for participants? No wonder her family is suing. They'll never have their mom back but they'll always know that lawsuit profits will buy them all the trinkets that society deems worth risking life and limb for.
Young mom willing to risk her life for computer game. What does this say about our society?
17 other people were willing to do this.
This is a litigious society. No one at Entercom ran this by legal before they advertised for participants? No wonder her family is suing. They'll never have their mom back but they'll always know that lawsuit profits will buy them all the trinkets that society deems worth risking life and limb for.
If this station is owned by Clearchannel or whatever, I predict an award to the family of ten to twenty million dollars, fully deserved.
To compare this to fat people suing MacDonalds is ludicrous.
It is not as if water drinking contests are a tradition at the State Fair, like pie eating, which is conducted in a comparitively safe manner. This contest was conducted in a totally dangerous way and I heard that the station was warned at one point by a nurse who called in. If I had heard such a contest was being held, I would have called the station owner, the police, the head of a hospital, and everyone I could contact to stop it.
Hypertremia is not a concept that even the average person knows about. People entering a contest for a video game console would assume it is not risky. In reality, it is extremely risky. Even dieters, who want to get 8 glasses a day, fine for normal activity levels, but don't push it to twice that.
To me, this kind of fluid drinking contest is no less harmless than if they had a contest to see who could swallow the largest rubber ball, only as I said, with water, this is not obviously dangerous at all. Still the radio station should have researched the dangers and should be held responsible for having a contest that deadly.
I hope it is featured on all the national news stations tonight as it will help educate people.
You pompous, judgemental, know-it-all.
Posted by oleander8 at 12:24 PM : Jan 18, 2007"
Yup, BUT I am ALIVE to be one!
Placing the words "free prize!", "free gift!", "win big!" in front of supposedly intellegent humans (you know, those creatures with the thumbs who think they are so much smarter than "dumb animals" because of all their super cool electronic gadgets) is what helps seperate the weak ones from the rest of the herd.
Placing the priority to get "a prize" over using common sense is what makes college kids binge drink to "win" a spot in a fraternity. Getting "something for nothing" ALWAYS comes with a price tag much higher than if one actually earned it. ALWAYS.
This woman, & others like her, used her body, & ultimately her life, to get something for free. A better lesson for her children would have been to work for the stupid video console. You know: do extra chores around the house, mow the neighbour's lawn, show some initiative & responsibility- that sort of thing. Something that parents aren't teaching their kids any more. That's why people want to sue the fast food restaurants because of their own weight problems- they want it fast, now, & the easy way.
So, yeah, I'm a "pompous, judgemental, know-it-all" who is alive with self respect. I don't use my body, my health & the safety of my family to "win big prizes"!
To:ecuadoriana
You pompous, judgemental, know-it-all.
Whether this woman knew of the dangers of water intoxication or not is irrelevant. Once she decided to attempt this stupid contest she made an agreement with her SELF that her own health & safety, & the lesson she was teaching her children about binge drinking, weren't as important as aquiring a free video game.
And the message that was she sending to her kids? That her life was worth less than a video machine or Justin Timberlake tickets! How sad. Had she lived she should have been charged with reckless endangerment to her self & her children.
She did this to herself. The family shouldn't be suing anybody. She needed to take some personal responsibility for her actions.
The DJs shouldn't have been laughing about the dangers, but laughing at someone for being an idiot is not a crime & they certainly didn't force her to do this. It was her choice- & now she is dead from the consequences of that choice.
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