Jennifer Strange
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Jennifer Lea Strange was a 28-year-old woman who died of water intoxication on January 12, 2007 after taking part in a Sacramento, California, radio station's water-drinking contest. Strange, along with twenty other participants, took part in a contest held by KDND-FM's "Morning Rave" show called "Hold Your Wee for a Nintendo Wii," where the winner would win a Wii, a popular and at that time difficult-to-obtain Nintendo video game console. The winner was the one who could consume the most water without urinating. Strange won second place; it was not immediately known how much water Strange consumed, however other contestants speculate that Strange drank up to two gallons of water .[1]
Her mother found the body in the Sacramento suburb of Rancho Cordova, California, after Strange called her supervisor at her job to say she was heading home in terrible pain. Preliminary autopsy findings have ruled the death was due to water intoxication. [2]
During the contest, a nurse identified as Eva called the show and gave an on-air warning that drinking too much water is hazardous and potentially deadly. The disk jockeys rebuffed the nurse, saying the contestants had signed waivers. (According to a contestant, the waivers addressed only publicity issues and made no mention of health or safety concerns.)[3] In addition, the DJs ridiculed the contestants, making fun of the severe discomfort of the participants and offering no assistance. According to one contestant, they heckled another contestant on the floor whose teeth were chattering.[4] They also made reference to the 2005 case of Matt Carrington, who died of water intoxication in a fraternity hazing incident at Chico State University, but they also shrugged off any significance to this contest.[4]
On January 15, 2007, the Morning Rave radio show was suspended, and the next day the three hosts of the show and seven other employees were fired.[5] The Sacramento County Sheriff's Office is also investigating possible criminal charges against the DJs and producers of the show. Jennifer Strange's immediate family, a husband and three children, announced they will sue the radio station for wrongful death.[1]
On January 25, 2007 the family filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Sacramento Superior Court against KDND's parent company, Entercom, and employees and managers involved with the contest.[6]
On April 2, 2007, the Sacramento County District Attorney said no criminal charges will be filed. [1]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Williams, Juliet. "Sacramento sheriff investigates death of radio station contestant", SFGate.com, 2007-01-17. Retrieved on January 17, 2007.
- ^ Associated Press. "Woman drinks so much water she dies", CNN.com, 2007-01-13. Retrieved on January 17, 2007.
- ^ Jewett, Christina. "Mom's last hours recalled", Sacramento Bee, 2007-01-15. Retrieved on January 17, 2007.
- ^ a b Nevius, C.W. "From 'Morning Rave' to early grave", San Francisco Chronicle, 2007-01-17. Retrieved on January 17, 2007.
- ^ Associated Press. "Radio show pulled after woman's death", Yahoo! News, 2007-01-16. Retrieved on January 17, 2007.
- ^ Williams, Juliet. "Lawsuit: DJs Were Warned of Contest Risk", Associated Press (Salon.com), 2007-01-26. Retrieved on January 28, 2007.
