Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Woman dies in Radio Stunt to get a Wii
- Thread starter gauchogolfer
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
That's really sad, my mom told me about it this morning. Seriously stupid of the radio station...all the poor woman was trying to do is get her/her family a Wii. Our local station just had a "Caller #10" contest...yeah, just be caller #10 and you get a Wii!!!! Nothing like what that radio station did.
Sad 🙁
Sad 🙁
mkrishnan
Moderator emeritus
Witholding urination certainly doesn't help. 🙁 Wiki claims that 3L in one sitting is about what it takes to do in an otherwise healthy person. It depends, though, on your level of electrolytes. Your body generally uses electrolytes and water together -- it uses those ions to regulate water passage through membranes so that it can balance water in cells and outside of cells. So it basically needs balanced availability of the two (and no overabundance of either, which happens when you don't let yourself excrete... I guess).
I don't know. It's weird that the station didn't have any kind of healthcare personnel on scene and didn't evaluate these people before they left. Although I guess when they do other stupid things like eating contests they also do not. But I also do sort of feel like, even with the pressure of the apparent safety in doing something like this during an organized event (i.e. "if radio stations have these competitions, they must be safe"), I would kind of also think that a 28-year-old woman who isn't cognitively impaired would know better..... 🙁
dllavaneras
macrumors 68000
I read about this on engadget. It seems like the radio station should have been more careful and thought twice before having this stupid contest. But if they were having it were I lived I would go.
dllavaneras
macrumors 68000
Such is human nature. If someone does something stupid we all gather and watch instead of trying to stop them
(I'm speaking generally, this is not intended as an offense to you).
valdore
macrumors 65816
back in 2002 I nearly died from water intoxication, also known as hyponatremia. At the time I had diabetes insipidus, which made me very thirsty. I was so thirsty that I binged on non stop glasses of water all day for over 8 hours uninterrupted. Then, at nightfall, I threw up, in much the same way a drunk throws up after having too much alcohol. I got to the hospital just in time to be connected to a saline IV -- had it been just a few minutes later I would have died.
All that water flushes the sodium out of your body, to very low and dangerous levels. That's what happened to me and sounds like that's what happened to this woman trying to get a Nintendo.
All that water flushes the sodium out of your body, to very low and dangerous levels. That's what happened to me and sounds like that's what happened to this woman trying to get a Nintendo.
compuwar
macrumors 601
PR folks aren't doctors. You can almost see them thinking "Drinking water, that's harmless!"
.Andy
macrumors 68030
AppleGuy08
macrumors 6502
e²Studios
macrumors 68020
They certainly lived up to their name then. And yes, I can only imagine what those kids are going through right now.
Maybe a Mod will merge the threads
Regular_John
macrumors 68040
ouch! I've actually heard of people dyeing from drinking too much water before, but the stories I've heard involve kids on Ecstasy being all high and only remembering "drinking lots of water because you won't realize how dehydrated you are" and they just over do it.
But part of a radio contest, damn. Lawsuit away!
But part of a radio contest, damn. Lawsuit away!
dmw007
macrumors G4
AppleGuy08
macrumors 6502
Yah, and i know they probably made the contestants sign a waiver before they competed. atleast they did when a guy i knew competed in their pancake eating contest.
EricNau
Moderator emeritus
No, but the radio station ENCOURAGED her to drink all that water that caused her death.
She clearly wasn't aware of the dangers associated with such a "game," if she was, she would have gone to a hospital when she started feeling ill.
(Back to my 'live grenade' analogy)... It's like the radio station held a contest in which the contestants were to play hot potato with a live grenade, only they were unaware to the fact that it was actually live.
EricNau
Moderator emeritus
iW00t
macrumors 68040
The trouble is a nurse reportedly called the station to warn about the dangers of drinking too much water in so short a period of time, but the contestants choose not to heed her warning. Either way not sure how it'd pan out, but a legal system that helps the individuals who bag Darwin Awards suck.
madog
macrumors 65816
I've said it to my friends many a time:
"Too much of anything can be a bad thing."
To which they reply, "Well what about water?"
"It wouldn't surprise me. It probably just hasn't happened yet."
Muaha! I wouldn't be surprised at this point if breathing too much caused an instant and painful death.
I guess you could consider me a bit of a pessimist.
"Too much of anything can be a bad thing."
To which they reply, "Well what about water?"
"It wouldn't surprise me. It probably just hasn't happened yet."
Muaha! I wouldn't be surprised at this point if breathing too much caused an instant and painful death.
I guess you could consider me a bit of a pessimist.
sushi
Moderator emeritus
jimN
macrumors 6502a
Without wanting to criticise your illness, in DI the urine is dilute in spite of concentrated blood and the there is in fact hypernatraemia (too much sodium). It is only when fluid is unavailable to these people that they get into trouble because of the high contration of sodium in their blood.
In this case the woman's problem was two fold. Increased urine production causing leaking of electrolytes as well as dilution through hypervolaemia. And to whoever said that pure water couldn't do this, I suggest you read up on things before posting nonsense in future.
Abstract
macrumors Penryn
Did they kidnap her and drag her there?
You're right about her not knowing the risks, and the radio station didn't know either. I think everybody is at some level of fault, really, including the girl. The radio station should have done their research, but they certainly didn't kidnap them and force them all to play "hot potato" with a grenade that they didn't know was "live", like you said in your analogy. She wasn't forced into a pressure situation where she had to play. She walked into it.
I label this a sad "accident." The radio station should have done their research, and she walked in there voluntarily without knowing what risk she was getting herself into. And even if the nurse did NOT call in, everybody should take some responsibility for ignorance.