Video: Woman dies after holding ‘wee’ for a Nintendo Wii
posted at 4:25 pm on January 15, 2007 by Ian
I’ve heard of crazy radio contests, but none as odd as this one.
CBS, SACRAMENTO: A 28-year-old woman died of water intoxication after taking part in a radio station’s water drinking contest to win a Nintendo Wii video game system, the coroner’s office said.
Assistant Sacramento County Coroner Ed Smith said Saturday a preliminary investigation found evidence “consistent with a water intoxication death.”
Blowback
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Man….I gotta go to the bathroom! I don’t want uromisatisis poisoning
danarchy on January 15, 2007 at 4:32 PM
Stupid people tricks.
honora on January 15, 2007 at 4:33 PM
Your 15 minutes start NOW!
Limerick on January 15, 2007 at 4:34 PM
Kind of sad actually…
EnochCain on January 15, 2007 at 4:37 PM
3 kids makes it more than just sad.
Scotsman on January 15, 2007 at 4:42 PM
Oh, didnt see that part..damn…
EnochCain on January 15, 2007 at 4:46 PM
Darwin at work… (Sorry)
x95b10 on January 15, 2007 at 4:47 PM
I wonder if Nintendo will donate a Wii to her children after this mess.
TheThink on January 15, 2007 at 4:48 PM
Tragic – and so stupid and reckless on the part of the radio station. I hope the family has a good lawyer…actually, the facts of this case are so clear, even a mediocre one would do. This is like the case where the Walgreen’s invited contestants to run to the video game, and one was injured when another contestant slammed him up against a pole. Clear cut liability: the company should not incite reckless and dangerous behavior. Even if the contestants signed waivers.
JustTruth101 on January 15, 2007 at 4:49 PM
not Walgreen’s – Wal-Mart.
JustTruth101 on January 15, 2007 at 4:49 PM
oh man, I know SO many restaraunts that are going to be in trouble for not giving their people bathroom breaks.
One Angry Christian on January 15, 2007 at 4:52 PM
I don’t think bathroom breaks would make any difference. Drinking too much water just is not good for you whether or not you pee.
JinxMcHue on January 15, 2007 at 4:54 PM
Capitalist hazing?
Buck Turgidson on January 15, 2007 at 4:55 PM
Water intoxication is real.
Jim Treacher on January 15, 2007 at 5:03 PM
I smell a lawsuit.
infidel4life on January 15, 2007 at 5:06 PM
Another pointless death caused by dihydrogen monoxide.
http://www.gumbopages.com/fridge/dmho.html
When will the governments of the world get together and ban this deadly substance?
It is the single greatest cause of global warming, main component in acid rain, causes erosion, causes electrical devices to short circuit and makes my dog smell bad (known as the wet dog effect)!
When will the madness end?
lorien1973 on January 15, 2007 at 5:10 PM
Not the first person to die from water intoxication, probably not the last. The last time I remember hearing about it was part of a frat initiation. Maybe the “mother of three children” aspect will get enough press to educate some people.
bdfaith on January 15, 2007 at 5:21 PM
The taxi driver said to the French woman, just off the airline from France, “Where to, lady?”
“Hotel,” said the lady in her French accent.
“Which hotel, lady” asked the taxi driver.
“How you say, Waldorf Estonia?” replied the woman.
“You mean the Waldorf Astoria, don’t you, lady?” asked the taxi driver.
“Wee, wee” said the French woman.
“Not in my cab you don’t, lady,” replied the taxi driver as he quickly pulled to the curb and commanded the ladi exist the cab.
William
William2006 on January 15, 2007 at 5:21 PM
Um, if anything is a case for a wrongful death suit, this is it. The people at the radio station should have known this would have been a problem and taken steps accordingly. How hard would it have been to splice a bottle of Gatorade in between bottles of water? They should be ashamed of themselves.
spmat on January 15, 2007 at 5:22 PM
Excuse me,
I had too much of a trigger finger to notice my typing-spelling error. Let’s try this again, with the corrections.
With apologies,
William
The taxi driver said to the French woman, just off the airline from France, “Where to, lady?”
“Hotel,” said the lady in her French accent.
“Which hotel, lady” asked the taxi driver.
“How you say, Waldorf Estonia?” replied the woman.
“You mean the Waldorf Astoria, don’t you, lady?” asked the taxi driver.
“Wee, wee” said the French woman.
“Not in my cab you don’t, lady,” replied the taxi driver as he quickly pulled to the curb and commanded the
ladiFrench womanexistexit the cab.William
William2006 on January 15, 2007 at 5:21 PM
William2006 on January 15, 2007 at 5:25 PM
The Good News:
The Sacramento collective’s IQ just went up by…I don’t know….a third of a hundreth of a point???
seejanemom on January 15, 2007 at 5:28 PM
And I DO mean Sacramento Collective—-I should have capitalized that “C”.
What will the hive do now?
seejanemom on January 15, 2007 at 5:29 PM
Perhaps I’m in the minority here, but I wouldn’t want to see this turn into a lawsuit (although it probably will).
First and foremost, the contestant was an adult who was not forced to do this.
Secondly the radio station probably chose water drinking as a funny alternative to a lot of the more dangerous things people have done for prizes over the years (the lengths people will go to for a pair of super bowl tickets are outrageous). It is very unlikely that they were any more aware of the dangers of drinking too much water too fast than their adult contestants. In fact, there are plenty of eating contests that never have fatalities (Nathan’s hot dogs, for instance) — it’s entirely understandable that they would assume that a water rinking contest was equally innocent.
JadeNYU on January 15, 2007 at 5:29 PM
The radio station is called “The End”—are they KIDDING???
That is a SICK coincidence.
And she is characterized as “intelligent”????
O—–K.
seejanemom on January 15, 2007 at 5:32 PM
“bdfaith,”
I remember a news item from a few years ago in which a female flight attendant (stewardess) for an airline company was to report for a drug screening.
She was to give a urine sample, but she was having difficulty producing urine for the sample, so she drank water, and drank, and drank, until she began to become light headed and dizzy. She also suffered from the effects of drinking too much water.
Maybe with these cases the rest of the decent, non-drug using public can finally stop these pesky drug screenings which treat innocent, non-drug using citizens as suspected drug users, just like the screening at the airport treats non-Muslim Jihadis as suspected, potential Jihadi mass murderer, homicidal maniac terrorists, while giving special care to actual Muslims so as not to appear to be profiling or engaging in religious discrimination, Islamophobia, bigotry, etc.
Regarding Islamic Jihadis, you’re not really paranoid, or Islamophobic, or bigoted, or engaging in religious discrimination in being concerned about Jihadi homicidal thugs and the danger the present. They really ARE out to get you!
William
William2006 on January 15, 2007 at 5:33 PM
A medical secretary of six years didn’t know that drinking insane amounts of water is not a good idea? Oy. Poor kids, it’s not like a Wii, or three, is going to bring their mom back…
Seixon on January 15, 2007 at 5:36 PM
Big story with John Gibson just quoted your headline AP.
infidel on January 15, 2007 at 5:51 PM
oops I mean Ian.
infidel on January 15, 2007 at 5:51 PM
Probably true, and thus grounds for a wrongful death suit. Notice I didn’t say murder or manslaughter. I said wrongful death. Not being aware of the potential dangers of their contest is negligence on their part. Definition, via Wikipedia, of wrongful death:
This is not hot coffee in the lap. It’s a sophomoric stunt on the part of a radio station, made without any regard to its contestants’ well-being, and is in some ways far worse than a fraternity hazing death, as it involves a nominally responsible party.
All jokes about Darwinism aside, this radio station deserves to be punished for their negligence.
spmat on January 15, 2007 at 6:17 PM
The radio station is called “The End” and when the TV report got to the part about the guy’s bladder pressure building until he “lost control” while showing a stream of water is funny.
Chuck on January 15, 2007 at 7:47 PM
A Darwin Award finalist.
DAT60A3 on January 15, 2007 at 7:51 PM
Wee for Wii – classic Americana for the 21st century.
No matter what’s said – it’s good for business and Nintendo will sell thousands more just for this free publicity.
Emmett J. on January 15, 2007 at 8:26 PM
While it is sad that she left 3 children behind.
A medical secretary dying, due to a water overdose, is worthy of a Darwin award.
Electrolytes need to be replaced and I expect she should have known that.
The radio station should have known that as well.
It was stupid for them to pull this without making sure electrolytes were given.
F15Mech on January 15, 2007 at 9:39 PM
If you have stock in the company that owns that radio station, I STRONGLY suggest you sell at opening bell.
Tim Burton on January 16, 2007 at 1:15 AM
Nothing could make me buy their crappy product.
EnochCain on January 16, 2007 at 1:50 AM
The website “wii have a problem” chronicles accidents and such related to this console. I submitted the story. http://www.wiihaveaproblem.com/index.php
I’m not sure if she would have medical knowledge of this; being a secretary is a lot different from being a medical assistant. She probably never did more then answer phones and make appointments (speculation).
liquidflorian on January 16, 2007 at 2:12 AM
How to drown in a dry room. Weird.
What’s the next Wii contest? Hyperventilation? Let’s make it interesting. You have to be driving a schoolbus full of children. /sarcasm
Coronagold on January 16, 2007 at 6:49 AM
It’s hard to believe that no one knew this was dangerous. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
honora on January 16, 2007 at 10:12 AM
Considering that this is pretty much how Tycho Brahe died, I’m not sure a contest of this type was in ANYONE’S best interest (and if you think THAT was an obscure reference, watch the lawyers trot it out during the civil suit). Frankly, this is kind of a Darwin situation, given that A) the woman was (purportedly) sober (Brahe was at least roaring drunk at a party) and B) any time you undergo something of this caliber of stupidity (radio contests, I mean) you should ALWAYS check to see what kind of pitfalls may be involved. At the very least, it can keep you from being locked up for having sex in a church…
Final verdict: stupid on both sides. Now let the lawsuits file…
Militant Bibliophile on January 16, 2007 at 11:19 AM
The next thing on the docket will be water consumption regulations and licensing for those providing water to unknowing ignorant citizens.
Maybe we should just view this from a utilitarian elitist position and outright ban consumption of the treacherous substance.
AZ_Redneck on January 16, 2007 at 2:42 PM
MiamiHerald.com
VerbumSap on January 16, 2007 at 4:38 PM