Comments on The Phoenix: Hyperhydration - Death By Water For a Wii

My heart goes out to Jennifer Strange and her fami...

2007-01-29T07:45:00.000-06:00

My heart goes out to Jennifer Strange and her family, but I don't think that the DJ'S are at fault alone. We must all be responsible for our own actions. I know she wanted to do something special for her children, but an unfortunate accident occured. I believe the DJ's tried to get her to quit. I am also sure that they listened to the medical personnel that called in.

actually, for all the people going on that people ...

2007-01-21T20:18:00.000-06:00

actually, for all the people going on that people don't drink enough water: this is further from the truth. for every calorie consumed you should consume roughly 1 milliliter of water, this amounts to 2 liters for a 2,000 calorie diet. this is equivalent to 67.66 fluid ounces which is 8.4575 8 ounce glasses, HOWEVER (and this is where the misconception comes from, we should sue the supposed "health specialists" for kidney damage), most of the water required is present in the food itself. have you ever looked at a dried apricot compared to a fresh one? notice the difference in size? the apricot is mostly water. ever notice the size difference in pasta once cooked? it absorbs quite a bit of water. frankly, people are over hydrating themselves and while it's not necessarily to the point of hyperhydration if you have any kidney problems this over hydration that people seem to obsess about these days can lead to serious problems. in fact, it's kidney specialists of recent who have been questioning this "have to have 8 8ounce glasses of water a day" myth. and that's exactly what it is, a myth...

I read about this on CNN. I recall that not too lo...

2007-01-21T17:58:00.000-06:00

I read about this on CNN. I recall that not too long ago a frat boy died in a hazing incident in a similar contest.

What a horrible thing, and over a game system. My heart goes out to her family. And frankly, I feel for the DJs. are they responsible? Sure, they have a legal and medical department that they could have vetted this thru. But I'm sure that they had no idea that a stupid radio contest could come to this and they're going to have to live with this guilt forever.

All in all, ugh.

(Oh, Phoenix, I've temporarily moved to http://archphoenix.wordpress.com)

I'm glad you answered my questions...i was afraid ...

2007-01-20T23:23:00.000-06:00

I'm glad you answered my questions...i was afraid to go get a big gulp...

How sad, God rest her soul...

2007-01-20T15:03:00.000-06:00

How sad, God rest her soul...

Thanks for the update Bruce. Everyone associated ...

2007-01-19T08:37:00.000-06:00

Thanks for the update Bruce. Everyone associated with the morning show has been fired.

And I'm sure criminal charges are a possibility. I hope those DJs get good lawyers.

I read about this its sad.

2007-01-18T13:08:00.000-06:00

I read about this its sad.

No one's fault. It was a tragic accident due to th...

2007-01-18T12:22:00.000-06:00

No one's fault. It was a tragic accident due to the ignorance of all. Shit happens. It is too bad. I feel sad for all those involved.

You come up with some of the most unique stories. ...

2007-01-18T07:49:00.000-06:00

You come up with some of the most unique stories. Where do you find this stuff?

What an odd way to go. Maybe I should fear drinking too much water now. I'm not going to go the usual heart attack or cancer way, I'm going to do something odd like drink too much water or fall out of my wheelchair after winning the race I started in the nursing home.

I heard the audio of the morning of the contest, a...

2007-01-18T07:17:00.000-06:00

I heard the audio of the morning of the contest, and the girl actually brought up that the contestants could be in danger. One of the guys said, "Yeah, but if they drink too much they'll just throw up."
Well, he must have been sick that day at medical scholl, because he was wrong...
It's the morning teams fault for not checking on the potential danger of the contest.

I saw this story on fox news the other night and t...

2007-01-17T22:58:00.000-06:00

I saw this story on fox news the other night and thought of you, you beat them to it!

You watching the Aussie Open?

I think it's horrible and a stupid contest. Do the...

2007-01-17T19:19:00.000-06:00

I think it's horrible and a stupid contest. Do these people not do research before they hold these things?

Athletes have known about hyperhydration for some ...

2007-01-17T07:11:00.000-06:00

Athletes have known about hyperhydration for some time. There was a vogue for "keeping your water level up" about six, seven years ago. Until people started dying. That ended the vogue.

Thus, the sacking of the radio station personnel involved tends to represent where the burden of blame rests in this case. But, in the larger view, the fault lies with We the People. Or should I write "Wii the People". Sensible people don't get The Almighty Ratings; sensible people don't attract The Holy Advertisers. We the People buy this stuff - and then wonder aloud how it could possibly be that somebody gets hurt. Or dies ...

There's an update: 10 employees, including the thr...

2007-01-16T23:06:00.000-06:00

There's an update: 10 employees, including the three DJs, were fired on Tuesday as a result of Mrs. Strange's death. Here's the story.

That is just a terrible tragedy. I don't know who ...

2007-01-16T22:48:00.000-06:00

That is just a terrible tragedy. I don't know who to blame. I mean we all have to take ownership for our actions but I still feel for the deceased because I am sure she was pressured.

Both the contestants and the radio station are res...

2007-01-16T22:01:00.000-06:00

Both the contestants and the radio station are responsible. However I think the radio station has more responsibility here. First - reports now say that there was no medical release, information about medical risk, warning signs of water intoxication, etc contained in the waiver that was signed by the contestants. Second -if anyone at the station had made the minimal effort to quickly Google "water intoxication" or "too much water" when the nurse called in they would have seen very easily that there were significant risks with their contest. And they might have been able to then consult with medical expert, or stop the contest, or even print out readily available information from the web so they could give Jennifer and the other contestants a list of warning signs or symptoms that would require immediate medical attention. But they didn't. So what they did do was to create a contest that induced others to do something that was risky without doing any homework on the potential consequences, and then scorned a nurse who called to tell them that this was a dangerous contest. Not good.

That really sucks--I did not think you could drink...

2007-01-16T19:38:00.000-06:00

That really sucks--I did not think you could drink too much water.

I knew the opposite--dehydration--can and does kill a lot of people.

I don't know who is "responsible"; in today's legal environment, probably the station, disclaimers notwithstanding.

But no amount of money damages can bring somebody back to life, unfortunately.

We learned about this in school. Everything in mo...

2007-01-16T18:46:00.000-06:00

We learned about this in school. Everything in moderation, dammit!

Also, they TRIED to warn us about the dangers of dihyro-oxide!

I drink a lot of water. And I mean a LOT of water-...

2007-01-16T15:23:00.000-06:00

I drink a lot of water. And I mean a LOT of water--well over the 10 or 12 or whatever glasses a day is recommended.

But I never drink more than a glass at once time. It doesn't help you much to chug like that--and, as this story shows, it can kill.

-- david

What a senseless way to die. I'm sure her kids co...

2007-01-16T15:04:00.000-06:00

What a senseless way to die. I'm sure her kids couldn't care less about that Wii now.
What a tragedy.
Most people don't drink enough water.
I hope her story doesn't cause people to drink less water out of fear. You'd have to really drink a lot of water to be in the danger zone, and I don't think most people make a habit of drinking half a gallon of water at one sitting.

i heard about this on our local station on the way...

2007-01-16T14:35:00.000-06:00

i heard about this on our local station on the way to work and couldn't believe it was true. that truly, truly sux...feel so sorry for her family.

While few things are actually worth dying over, an...

2007-01-16T13:27:00.000-06:00

While few things are actually worth dying over, and a game isn't one of them, I must say that the Wii is really amazing!

My wife's 88 year old grandmother bowled an entire game by herself on it. That's something!

What a terrible waste!...and for a game.....

2007-01-16T12:56:00.000-06:00

What a terrible waste!

...and for a game.....

So who is to blame?It's all George Bush's fault.

2007-01-16T12:31:00.000-06:00

So who is to blame?

It's all George Bush's fault.

I think a frat at Chico State got into trouble for...

2007-01-16T11:52:00.000-06:00

I think a frat at Chico State got into trouble for hazing a pledge who did of the same water intoxication. It's become a problem with yuppies (or whatever) who workout too much and then overhydrate themselves.