Water intoxication kills mother of three

January 15th, 2007

Various news outlets have reported the death of 28 year old mother of three Jennifer Strange, who died of water intoxication following a competition to win a games console. Californian radio station KDND 107.9 held the contest, entitled “Hold your wee for a Wii”, where participants were encouraged to drink half a pint of water every 15 minutes, with the participant who resisted their bladder longest declared the winner.

Quite how any of the event organisers thought this was safe is beyond comprehension. Nevertheless, Strange was allowed to leave whilst complaining of a severe headache (an obvious symptom of water intoxication) without being given medical attention. The excessive water consumption had overloaded her kidneys and diluted her blood enough that water was entering her body cells, causing them to swell. The swelling of her brain (cerebral edema) was the cause of the headache, and would eventually lead to her death.

The most famous case of death by water intoxication is that of Leah Betts (though invariably reported as due to Ecstasy).

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