You know what makes me REALLY sad? This was a stunt that preyed on people who obviously couldn't afford the $250 for a game console. This mother of three was probably thinking she was absolutely determined to win that thing for her kids, because she wanted to give them something she wouldn't normally be able to. I am SURE that had she known that she could actually DIE from participating in this contest, she would not have done it.

There are so many examples of this in our media today. People willing to give up any sense of self-respect or dignity, or willing to put themselves in physical danger all in the name of just doing better than they are already doing (ie--more money, more things).

I feel so sad for this woman's husband and children. I imagine they will deal with a lot of guilt knowing that their wife/mother actually died trying to provide a want for them.

Such a tragic story.

Ditto Nancy,
I never understood why I have to drink even when i am not thristy? I drink water only when I feel like it, and during/after exercise, otherwise, I drink tea, coffee, eat soup, veggies and fruits with high water content, etc.
I don't understand why I have to "drown" my body to keep it hydrated, or to make water selling companies another $, LOL. All this extra water simply burdens my kidney and heart, and make me go pee every 20 minutes.
I have read that color of urine will tell if one is hydrated: it should be pale yellow, but if I drink 1/2 gallon a day of water in addition to everything esle, it will be colorless.
If we must drink when not thisrty to prevent "dehydration" then we must eat when not hungry (snack) to prevent hunger, and some ppl do and get in troubles.

I agree Rob,
Drinking too much water (and other fluids for this matter) will results in sort of same problem that diabetics with poorly controlled Bgs face: they pee out vitamins and minerals.

2 gallons
A stupid radio stunt's tragic finale
Sacramento DJs joked as contestant guzzled fatal quantity of water - C.W. Nevius
Thursday, January 18, 2007


There were lots of reasons to think Jennifer Strange was in deep trouble after she spent hours guzzling in a water-drinking contest at a Sacramento radio station.

"I asked her, 'How do you feel?' " said Elidia Campos, one of 20 contestants. "She said, 'Oh, my God. I feel so awful, I'm about to pass out.' ''

But the DJs at KDND-FM apparently figured that was her problem, wasn't it? It was her choice to enter Friday morning's contest. The hosts can be heard joking on an audiotape of Friday's show about how Strange's stomach was distended from drinking nearly 2 gallons of water, and they teased her and other contestants because they did not "look so good."

Told by another DJ that "We got a guy who's just about to die," one of the jocks had a quick response.

"Make sure he signs the release," he chortled, setting off gales of laughter in the studio.

It was, in short, typical dumbbell morning radio, featuring the kind of stupid stunts and heckling that have raised ratings on stations across the nation. It has certainly worked for KDND's "The Morning Rave," which has become one of Sacramento's top-rated drive-time shows. And if you found their antics mean and offensive, maybe you just weren't cool enough to get the joke.

Then Jennifer Strange died.

Twenty-eight years old, married and the mother of three, Strange had entered the "Hold your Wee for a Wii'' contest to try to win a Nintendo Wii video game player for her kids. Contestants had to drink as much water as they could without going to the bathroom. What Strange didn't know was that after drinking so much water in a little over four hours, she'd given herself a deadly condition that the coroner would later say was consistent with water intoxication. She was found dead that afternoon in her Rancho Cordova home.

Strange was one of the original 20 contestants who were put in a room with one DJ separate from the studio where they could not hear on-air comments or callers. Once the contest was narrowed down to two, Strange and the eventual winner, Lucy Davidson, were brought into the studio.

None of the contestants had any idea what they had gotten themselves into.

"I thought it was just water," Campos says, "that it would just flush out my body. I just assumed that because it was a contest, everything would be checked out."

Hardly. As the contestants dropped out, it became clear that some of them were having serious health problems. Not that anyone at the station seemed concerned.

"There was a girl on the floor," says Campos, who made it to the final five. "She must have been there for an hour with her teeth chattering. They were heckling her."

"Your body is 98 percent water," one of the hosts remarked to his on-air audience. "Why can't you take in as much water as you want?"

Because, as many of us in the Bay Area learned two years ago, an excess of water creates a physical shutdown. Pleasant Hill college student Matt Carrington died in 2005 of water intoxication in a hazing incident at a Cal State Chico fraternity.

In fact, Carrington's case came up on Friday. Someone in the studio mentioned "that poor kid in college," but another DJ responded that Carrington "was doing other things."

No, actually, he wasn't. As a listener who identified herself as "Eve" told the morning crew, people "can get sick and possibly die from water intoxication."

"We're aware of that," one jock replied. And another jumped in to wisecrack that everyone in the contest had signed releases, "so we're not responsible."

Another joke. Are those guys zany and irreverent or what?

Well, here's another good one. Sacramento sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Tim Curran said Wednesday that the department feels that it has enough information to begin an investigation. Originally, the sheriff had said that because the contestants entered under their own free will, there might have been no crime.

But that changed after investigators heard a tape this week of the on-air conversations and how the hosts disregarded the caller's warnings and signs that Strange and other contestants were experiencing symptoms of intoxication. Sacramento district attorney's office spokeswoman Lana Wyant said prosecutors will be watching the results of the investigation as they consider filing charges.

Station Vice President and General Manager John Geary issued a statement of sympathy on Tuesday. The same day, the station announced that it had fired 10 staff members, including the five hosts of the "Morning Rave," which was canceled.

Meanwhile, the lawsuits are likely to stretch from here to the top of the Sierra. A legal action is already in the works from an attorney representing the Strange family. Because as tragic as Strange's death was, other contestants on Friday were nearly as ill.

"No one was more sick than anyone else," Campos says. "We were so out of it, so disoriented. I felt like I was drunk. There was no way I could make a rational decision, especially with people egging you on."

Campos dropped out with two other contestants when one of them began to vomit. That triggered two others to throw up, although it didn't help when one of the DJs made retching sounds to encourage heaving.

"I had cold sweats, my head hurt, and I can't even guess how many times I threw up on the way home," Campos says. "I passed out in bed at 11 (a.m.) and didn't wake up until my husband shook me awake at 6 that night."

Campos wonders if she somehow could have intervened when Strange became very ill. They talked about their kids, watched a video on Campos' DVD player, and commiserated about how terrible they felt.

"We totally had a moment together," says Campos, 33. "She talked about her kids the whole time. I just can't stop thinking about it."

Meanwhile, Lukas, Maney and Trish, hosts of "The Morning Rave," released a statement.

"At this time," it said, "we would like to express our deepest condolences to the family of Jennifer Strange. We want to thank all of our listeners for their continued support and we ask that you join us by keeping Jennifer and her family in your thoughts and prayers."

Now they're sorry? What a joke.


Drinking too much water can be fatal Water intoxication: When a person drinks large quantities of water rapidly, the normal balance of electrolytes in the body can be diluted to the point that brain function is disturbed, leading to light-headedness, nausea, vomiting, headaches and sometimes death.

Who's at risk: Anyone who drinks too much water too fast can be affected, but infants, marathon runners and people working in extreme heat are particularly vulnerable. Drinking fluids made to replace electrolytes can help prevent intoxication.


Another recent case Cal State Chico student Matthew Carrington, 21, of Pleasant Hill, collapsed and died of heart failure after members of a fraternity forced him to drink excessive amounts of water while he performed calisthenics during a hazing ritual on Feb. 2, 2005. Four members of the Chi Tau fraternity pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter.

Audio link

To listen to conversations between the DJs and Jennifer Strange,

go here.

C.W. Nevius' column appears regularly. His blog, C.W. Nevius.blog, and podcast, "News Wrap," can be found at sfgate.com. E-mail him at cwnevius~sfchronicle.com.

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Well, actually, it's very hard to locate a Wii to purchase in the first place; perhaps not now, but I can guarantee you that around the holiday season, it was impossible. Nindendo did not make enough to meet demand. I suspect she was doing it because she couldn't find one to even buy.

By the way, not to sound to heartless here, but why in the heck was she listening to some radio DJ regarding something medical? Obviously, the station (as well as this poor woman) had no idea what they/she were doing. It was stupidity all around- one of the DJs quoted said that the human body is like, what 98% water? Uhhhh....no. Unless you're a jellyfish.

I truly feel bad for the family of this woman; it's terrible, and if the radio station DID do something criminal, they should be punished.

It comes down to this (at least, in my own mind)- the station should have done more research on holding such a 'contest', but on the flip side, she should have sought real medical attention if she thought she was going to "pass out".

Just my .02

I'd have to say the general public might not be aware you can actually die from drinking something as harmless as water. If you didn't know the symproms, you wouldn't exactly KNOW to seek medical help... you'd likely think it was the flu or something.

Right-o and by the time they wised up they'd probably be intoxicated and unable to think clearly.

I think that even if people understand that drinking too much water can be dangerous, they have no idea that it works so quickly, that you can kill yourself in just a couple of hours that way.

I guess this is the main reason human being resorted to wine, beer, tea, coffee, and other beverages, since dringking water was indeed dangerous.. until we learne how to purify it.

I know it was impossible to find a Wii around the holidays, I ended up getting a gift cert. to a game shop for my son for Christmas, and we are STILL waiting for them to get a shipment in.

Whether it was because the people couldn't afford it, or because the things weren't readily available, it's still tragic, and the fact that people come on here and all they can talk about is how much water a person actually should drink in order to be healthy disgusts me. A woman, a MOTHER , and a WIFE DIED PEOPLE! For a VIDEO GAME for her KIDS PEOPLE!

And potatofree is right, the general public probably doesn't know that it can take effect so quickly. And there were others in that contest who stated afterward that they were ALL out of it and couldn't have made a rational decision after consuming all that H20. The whole thing was irresponsible.

And, as far as the radio station being punished, I hope that they will not have to be. I hope they will just step up and take responsibility right from the get-go, and offer the family whatever it takes to "make it up to them". No amount of money can bring that woman back, but just knowing that the people who were responsible for the contest recognize their part in her death will be of much more comfort than a monetary settlement won after a long court battle.

Kinda hard to remember most of recorded history took place with a buzz, given that the water alone wasn't safe to drink, and that the single biggest public health improvement is/was clean drinking water (somewhat concurrent with sewage management).

However, 2.5 gallons of ANY of the above beverages consumed in the same amount of time would kill faster than straight water, I'd bet...