Very sad and "strange"

[ChadTower]

Because it was presented in a way that made the family of Mrs. Strange seem like unethical people who are just out to scam a buck off of whomever they can, regardless of culpability.

That's reading more into his statement than was there.  I did that too, only I put that aggressive litigation on their attorney, not on the clients.  My experience with attorneys has always been that way.  I actually had one tell me once "well, when picking out defendants, we usually cast out as wide a net as possible and then pull it in once we eliminate the parties that we probably can't get anything from."

[AtomSmasher]

Because it was presented in a way that made the family of Mrs. Strange seem like unethical people who are just out to scam a buck off of whomever they can, regardless of culpability.  The article you referenced never once suggests any such thing and is not written with the same pejorative tone.  I jumped on you because this poor family just lost their mother so that some disgusting and irresponsible people could get a laugh at her expense.  The people responsible should be, well, held responsible.  But I see people all over the web saying things like, "Not only does the radio station owe them nothing, but those people shouldn't even be fired.  She was an adult and ought to be held responsible for her own actions.  Nobody forced the water down her throat."

Maybe you aren't one of those people, but the abundance of them and the wording of your post made it sound like you are one of them.

And so on . . .

Looking back at my original post I can see what your saying and I agree I worded it poorly (thats what I get for posting right before I go to bed).  I feel that they definately should sue the radio station and hold them accountable for their mothers death.  I can't imagine Nintendo is in any way responsible though, even if they did donate a Wii (and I don't think they did).  The only ones I feel should be sued are the ones who helped plan, organize, or run the event, which is most likely just the radio station.

[versapak]

I find it funny (as in sad and pathetic) how many people out there all of the sudden are experts on water poisoning (and seemingly have been for years and years), and how quick they are to call the lady an idiot for doing this competition in the first place.

I for one had never heard of water poisoning, and could have easily entered into a competition like this one, without any suspicion that my life was in danger from drinking water, and would have (not unreasonably I would have thought) assumed that proper precautions were taken to ensure my safety.

I think it was very clear from the attitudes of the DJ's and the final outcome that they indeed were negligent. I am glad they lost their job, and I do believe the station should be held liable for not requiring that the proper safety of those participants be met.

[ChadTower]

People really are overestimating how much people know about this topic.  It's not even "water poisoning" as everyone keeps calling it... it's rapid dilution of the bloodstream in relation to its proportion of electrolytes.  It could happen with other liquids, too.  What I didn't know is how little water can do it.  I had always assumed it would take several gallons of water but this woman supposedly only drank 2 gallons.

[AtomSmasher]

People really are overestimating how much people know about this topic.  It's not even "water poisoning" as everyone keeps calling it... it's rapid dilution of the bloodstream in relation to its proportion of electrolytes.  It could happen with other liquids, too.  What I didn't know is how little water can do it.  I had always assumed it would take several gallons of water but this woman supposedly only drank 2 gallons.

I've heard of over hydration before, but I also had no idea that only 2 gallons could be enough to kill you.  If only they had them drink a gatorade or "smart water" instead of only using regular water, they probably could of averted this disaster.

[ChadTower]

That would probably just present different issues.  The point here really is don't take in two gallons of liquid in an hour without peeing no matter what the liquid happens to be.

[shmokes]

If I remember right it has to do with your Ph Balance, which again, if I remember right, is the amount of sodium in your cells.  If you drink too much water the sodium will exit the cells to balance out with all the water you've taken in.  The opposite happens if you drink salt water, which is why drinking ocean water does not hydrate you.

[ChadTower]

Sodium and potassium... the electrolytes.

[shmokes]

I remember wondering once if you could survive drinking ocean water if you just ate a lot of bananas while you were at it.

[ChadTower]

No, you'd be overdosing, not compensating.  The reason the salt water "dehydrates" you is that your body needs additional pure water to flush out all of the sodium the salt water is dumping in your blood.  Adding a buttload of potassium in there at the same time would just make it worse.