Hold your wee for a wii

Post by **bio** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 11:10 am

Radio station contest gone way bad!

I smell me a lawsuit!

jc · Post by jc » Tue Jan 16, 2007 11:38 am

No kidding! I can't believe the people at the station didn't know how dangerous that was.

CrazyAlabamianLlama · Post by **CrazyAlabamianLlama** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 12:00 pm

WOW! Thats freicken crazy!

Post by **miftah** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 1:42 pm

I gotta confess, until I read this I had no idea this was possible. That it was a mom doing it for her kids breaks my heart.

Tom · Post by **Tom** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 7:59 pm

Now see who says drinking water is good for you. WOW what a way to go. I too had no idea that was even possible. Although I have felt like I was about to drown after drinking lots of beer, I actualy had no Idea I really could!

Deater · Post by **Deater** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 8:58 pm

I saw this story on the news this weekend, it said she only drank like a half gallon of water. They specified that she had at least 64 ounces. That is not a lot of water.

That reported amount was either incorrect or there had to be something else. I wonder if she had malnutrition or something.

Either way, it is pretty sad to hear of a young mom dying from drinking water to win a game console for her kids.

Goes to show that too much of anything can be bad for you, so try to keep your air intake to a minimum.

Painted · Post by **Painted** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 9:15 pm

That is sad. I would never want my mom to do that. Think of how guilt stricken the kids must be.

moe flam · Post by **moe flam** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 10:04 am

Painted wrote:Think of how guilt stricken the kids must be.

Exactly. This is epic'ly sad for the kids. The first reaction of 'wow, that's a weird way to go' is followed by a life time of kids not having a mother. I dunno, I go on news black outs sometimes because its just too hard to hear crap like this. We'll forget about this story in a week or two, because it will be trod upon by a another unthinkable tragedy.

I feel like there should be something to take out of this story, but I don't know what it is. Maybe something about the media/ society always needing more-more-more to satiate our appetite for wanting to be shocked, and always becoming harder to do so. Or it was just a freak accident. Just sad.

Post by **bio** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 9:58 am

*bump*

More on this story...

Apparently, the DJ's at the radio station knew the risks. They talked about water intoxication on the air during the contest and even touched on a news story where a college kid died from it during a fraternity hazing. Even a concerned caller called in and expressed the dangers (yes... this was all on the air).

The DJ said with a laugh (again, on the air) "Yeah, they signed releases, so we're not responsible. We're OK".

So far, 10 employees of the station have been fired over this and the morning show has been taken off the air.

Yesterday, the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department launched a criminal investigation into the incident, and attorneys for the family of Jennifer Lea Strange said they plan to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the radio station.

mudflap · Post by **mudflap** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 11:30 am

Ok...this woman's death and her kids loss is extremely sad.

That said, I'm struggling with the concept of the radio station being at fault. She knew the risks, she made the decision. No one forced her to do that.

What's next - suing the company that bottled the water? Suing the manufacturer of the radio she was using to listen to the program?

This is case of misplaced blame. When are we as a society going to start taking responsibilty for our own actions?

Deater · Post by **Deater** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 12:32 pm

Listen to this

There were people calling in and warning, but the DJ's just laughed and rationalized that she would vomit before she died.

You can hear her say that her head hurts.

mudflap · Post by **mudflap** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 4:22 pm

Why is it the radio station's responsibility to monitor her health and welfare?

This is a grown woman; she should have the mental faculties to stop if she feels ill.

Deater · Post by **Deater** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 5:04 pm

I agree, it is not the fault of the DJs. It is not really anyones fault. No one should have been fired as a result of this. Who would have thought that a half gallon of water would cause this lady to die.

It's just a really sad story. I'm sure we'll see down the road that there was more to it than just water.

It's just strange how the broadcast sounds now that she has died.

Encap · Post by **Encap** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 5:06 pm

It could be said, based on the very limited amount we heard in that flash slideshow that while the DJs were aware of water intoxication, she might not have been.

Moreso, when she mentioned her head hurting, the staff of the radio station explained to her that it was just her head, and that if she were in trouble, she'd puke first.

Honestly, I'm not sure that the radio station is at fault, but there may be more to the story based on what we've heard. It would bare some scrutiny, don't you think?

Post by **bio** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 5:07 pm

The radio station intentionally put her in harms way, full well knowing that drinking too much water can be harmful.

If you were hurt on the job because your employer knowingly didn't provide a safe work environment, wouldn't they be liable?

Sure... they could have walked away, but the radio station "poo-poo'd" the risks and joked about it. How seriously would you take the potential threat in that environment (especially when there's something at stake that is impossible at the moment to get)?

I think they're totally liable in this case. They are at fault for creating a contest that they knew had the potential to kill. Tragically, it did. This isn't, in my opinion, just another frivolous lawsuit.