A woman from California has died after taking part in a radio competition to drink as much water as she could without going to the toilet.

Jennifer Lea Strange, 28, was found dead in her Sacramento home by her mother at 2pm on Friday after taking part in "Hold Your Wee for a Wii", a competition to win the new Nintendo Wii console.

At around 9am that day, she had joined 18 other participants in a contest to see how much water they could consume without going to the lavatory in a competition being run by the radio station KDND 107.9.

The contest — during which participants were initially handed 237-millilitre bottles of water to drink every 15 minutes, and then given larger quantities if they lasted long enough — was around three hours long.

Ed Smith, the Sacramento County assistant coroner, said Ms Strange, a medical secretary, was likely to have died of the rare condition of water intoxication. He said that a preliminary autopsy could not determine exactly how much water Ms Strange had consumed, but it was "excessive". The woman had no life-threatening medical conditions and that her sudden death was "consistent with a water-intoxication death", Mr Smith added.

Water intoxication, or water poisoning, is a potentially fatal condition when a person consumes a large quantity of water and their bodily fluids become overly diluted, causing sodium levels to fall below normal. This can lead to brain swelling, seizures, coma and, in severe cases, death.

Even though the Sacramento sheriff's department has ruled out investigating the death as a criminal matter, John Geary, the vice-president of Entercom Sacramento, the radio station's owner, said staff were stunned by Ms Strange's death, and are "awaiting information that will help explain how this tragic event occurred".

According to Laura Rios, one of Ms Strange's co-workers at Radiological Associates of Sacramento, she had called her supervisor on Friday shortly after she left the contest complaining of a headache, and said that she was going home for the day. "She was crying, and that was the last that anyone had heard from her," the colleague said.

Ms Strange's death is the latest accident to be associated with the Nintendo Wii, the new interactive console which has led to reports of injuries all over the world. Gamers pick up a controller and move their bodies in accordance with what's happening on the screen. In a tennis programme, for instance, players swing their arms to simulate groundstrokes.

So many injuries have occurred that a website, http://www.wiiinjury.com, has been set up by enthusiasts to share each others' injury experiences, and advise on how to play more safely.

Timesonline

10 sacked over fatal water contest

January 17, 2007 - 12:00PM

A Californian radio station fired 10 employees, including its three morning disc jockeys, after a woman died following an on-air water-drinking contest last week.

The hosts of KDND-FM's Morning Rave were fired after the station said it was suspending the show and investigating the death of Jennifer Lea Strange.

Strange, 28, was one of about 18 contestants in a "Hold your Wee for a Wii" contest trying to win a Nintendo gaming console by seeing how much water they could drink without going to the toilet.

During the contest, participants were given two minutes to drink a 220-millilitre bottle of water and then given another bottle to drink after a 10-minute break.

Strange might have drunk nearly 7.6 litres, witnesses said. She appeared ill, one contestant said.

After the contest, Strange called in sick to work. She was found dead at her home in a suburb of Sacramento about five hours later.

The Sacramento County coroner said preliminary autopsy findings indicated she died of water intoxication.

Drinking large quantities of water rapidly can throw off the body's balance of electrolytes, causing brain swelling and leading to seizures, coma or even death.

Strange had showed fellow contestants photographs of her two sons and daughter, for whom she was hoping to win the Wii. The game console sells in California for about $US250 ($320)

A stupid competition to hold. You would think that the executives at KDND and Nintendo would use their brains a little more, prior to authorizing a competition like this. The executives should resign!

Yep, I wouldn`t disagree with you. Why on earth didn`t they clear their plan with a doctor first? Life surely has to be worth more than $250.