Life-threatening hyponatremia from water intoxication is no joke.
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adding to the blog! ,twibe
i love my wii … but not that much.
How could the people at the radio station be that dumb? I can see the lawsuits now, and for once I agree.
Senseless naive tragedy. Three children left without a mother. I abhore any and all contests in which eating/drinking speed or quantity are the competitive parameters. Ridiculous at best, lethal at worst, tragic in this case.
Bruce; what do you mean, “How could the people at the radio station be that dumb? ” They are radio broadcasters, not medical personelle. We expect them, like most members of the general public and the participants in this stunt to be unaware of the dangers of water intoxication.
Had any adequate warning been present it would have done little good as one contestant remarked “Ybarra said before the contest, he did not read a liability waiver form handed to him by station personnel before signing it”. Even if you try to tell people they are embarking on something ill-advised, dangerous or outright stupid, they will find ways to ignore all warnings.
It is a tragedy that this mother put her life at risk and lost.
It is a tragedy that this mother put her life at risk and lost
Most people don’t know that drinking too much water can kill. I doubt it very much she had known she would be putting her life at risk. You don’t know enough about her to conclude that she is one of those people who ignore the warnings and risks her life nor do we know what the warnings were. Did their liability waver said in bold letters “this can kill you”? I doubt it very much. If it had, we would’ve heard about it by now. Actually, I don’t know the legality of it, but the presence of this type of warning could probably be used against the station because it would show they had known the risks of their stupid contest and still went ahead with it without medical supervision.
If you are organizing the event, you are responsible to find out what the risks of such an event may be. You should’ve also have medical supervision. There are doctors present at athletic events which have high risk of injury, for example, like diving or skating. Why not here?
Also, they shouldn’t have allowed a woman complaining of feeling ill to drive home by herself.
Anonymous: I’m a member of the general public, with no medical training other than first aid, and I know that water intoxication can kill. I distinctly remember previous incidents of death resulting from drinking too much water. And, in this age, with a quick Google search at your fingertips, information is readily available.
No, this was an incredibly dumb stunt.
Bruce, it is particularly trgic and stupid on the part of both the victim and the radio station. Two years ago there was a hazing incident at Chico State (about an hour up the road) and a fraternity pledge died. Two senior members of teh fraternity pled guilty to manslaughter. Thi incident received huge amounts of press in the Sacramento paper as well as on the news, most likely including the station in question. They really shuld have known better….
Bruce, it is particularly trgic and stupid on the part of both the victim and the radio station. Two years ago there was a hazing incident at Chico State (about an hour up the road) and a fraternity pledge died. Two senior members of teh fraternity pled guilty to manslaughter. Thi incident received huge amounts of press in the Sacramento paper as well as on the news, most likely including the station in question. They really shuld have known better….
How could the people at this radio station possibly miss this? A previous poster said that there was wide press coverage of a water intoxication death only two years prior in the same area. The radio station staff may not be medically trained, but they are members of the local media. I’d like to know if the organizers of the contest are the same ones who read the report over the air about the fraternity pledge.
Where are the trial lawyers?
We should be suing the utilities corporation for millions – there must be a doctor working there who hasn’t warned the poor public about the dangers of dihydrogen oxide ingestion.
It gets worse. A nurse said she called in and specifically warned the DJs on the air that this was a dangerous stunt.
Yeah 2 people called in, one was a girl that said can’t you like die from that? They said yes! That’s what the waiver is for. That’s just crazy……….
The DJs were aware of risks
A few years ago here in England, my local radio station, Radio Trent in Nottingham held a similar competition, “Jo & Twiggy’s big bladder”. 2 young women kept drinking loads of water to win a Brian Adams concert ticket. Both girls went the 3hrs without urinating. Both were given a ticket each. Tragedy could have happened then. Radio Trent hasnt run a similar competition since, thankfully.
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