On Friday, January 19, 28-year-old single mom of three Jennifer Strange died while competing to win a Nintendo Wii for her kids. She died from water intoxication after drinking gallons of water for four hours and not being allowed to use the bathroom to evacuate the consumed liquid.
The family has since filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the radio station, the radio station hosting the contest has fired virtually everyone connected with its planning, and everyone so self-important to have a blog (ahem) pontificates on who to blame.
I personally would not do that. However, I, personally, do blame Nintendo, the International Bottled Water Association, Wee Man, Michelle Wie, WHEE Radio of Martinsville, VA, the Pacific Ocean, and the Democrats.
Always include the Democrats.
In quest to flush out more information, I was suprised to find that the radio station web site didn't offer any apologies, condolences, regrets or "where are they now" profiles of the DJs. Ironically, station information is available at www.watershedportal.org.
Ms. Strange's death is not funny, certainly sad and absolutely a cautionary tale. I really think it is an okay goal -even if not primary or secondary, but possibly tertiary - to have as an aim not to die a death that results in a spate of smug blog posts from Dasani-sipping pundits.
We've committed not to ever purchase a Wii for our children (but will still purchase bottled water, in moderation). A basic premise of video gaming is that it must act in direct opposition to physical activity and fitness. The only injuries one should incur from gaming are Nintendo Thumb and in extreme cases, Madden Fever (and as the coach himself would tell you, feed a fever, starve a cold).
January 23, 2007 2:00 PM