A woman who competed in a radio stations contest to see how much water she could drink without going to the bathroom died of water intoxication, the coroners office said Saturday. Water intoxication, also known as water poisoning, hyperhydration, overhydration, or water toxemia, is a potentially fatal disturbance in brain functions that results when the normal balance of electrolytes in the body is pushed outside safe limits by excessive water intake. Pleasant Hill college student Matt Carrington died in 2005 of water intoxication in a hazing incident at a Cal State Chico fraternity. A wrongful death lawsuit was announced on January 18 on behalf of Strange's husband and three children against Entercom and KDND's operating subsidiary Entercom Sacramento LLC. The result is that cells desperately try to increase the sodium concentration in body fluids by taking in tremendous amounts of water. They talked about their kids, watched a video on Campos' DVD player, and commiserated about how terrible they felt. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. A Sacramento radio stunt gone gone bad will cost the radio station and its parent company $16.57 million. In a statement, Entercom called Strange's death "a tragedy" and said it respected the jury's decision. During the contest, participants were given two minutes to drink an 8-ounce bottle of water and then given another bottle to drink after a 10-minute break. [8] The sale became effective at the start of 1971; the FM retained the call sign,[2] while the AM became known as KNDE. [22], In July 1996, Brown Broadcasting sold KXOA-AM-FM and KQPT (100.5 FM) to American Radio Systems for $50million, bringing it to the market limit of five FM and three AM stations. Drinking fluids made to replace electrolytes can help prevent intoxication. Among the fired employees were three morning disc jockeys. The then-chief of enforcement for the FCC stated to the Sacramento Bee that the motive was financial and that Entercom would likely have fought had a merger not been planned. [10][11], In 1974, the Browns bought DrakeChenault's half of KXOA-FM. After drinking two gallons and becoming one of two final participants, according to witness reports, Strange began to feel ill and had to quit. The game console sells for about $250. In severe cases of water intoxication, coma and death come fairly quickly as a result of brain swelling. In 1969, the station raised its effective radiated power from 12,500 watts to more than 49,000. Inside the cell, there are more electrolytes; outside the cell, there is more water. [12] The station re-branded as Super Stereo K108, featuring Top 40 music and album-oriented rock (AOR) at night. The FCC stipulated that use of the frequency must retain its short-spaced protections to KSAN (107.7 FM) in San Mateo, California; any new station would be limited to 50kW ERP and an average height above average terrain of 123 meters in the direction of KSAN. Midway through the contest, he said, the amount of water given to the participants was doubled. The results of a preliminary . [28], At noon on July 14, 1998, Entercom made a move that general manager John Geary admitted should have occurred a year prior and flipped KXOA to Top 40/CHR as 107.9 The End with new KDND call letters. }, First published on October 30, 2009 / 9:58 AM. Ms. Strange's death led to a civil action for wrongful death, which settled after a jury entered a $16.5 million judgment against KDND. She was found dead that afternoon in her Rancho Cordova home. In January 2007, hours after competing in a radio station contest to win a Nintendo Wii, 28-year-old Jennifer Strange was found dead in her California home. "At this time," it said, "we would like to express our deepest condolences to the family of Jennifer Strange. 18 January 2007. ", But the DJs at KDND-FM apparently figured that was her problem, wasn't it? Now the Sacramento radio station could lose its licence. Without electrolytes, the body can't function (see What are electrolytes? At the time of the incident, Laura Rios, one of Strange's co-workers at Radiological Associates of . "Your body is 98 percent water. This page is not available in other languages. Someone in the studio mentioned "that poor kid in college," but another DJ responded that Carrington "was doing other things. [35] At one point, a nurse contacted the station and informed the DJs that the contest could be dangerous and potentially fatal. Jennifer Strange, 28, competed in Sacramento station KDND 107.9's "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" contest to try to win Nintendo's console for her children. ", No, actually, he wasn't. A legal action is already in the works from an attorney representing the Strange family. Listen to article It has certainly worked for KDND's "The Morning Rave," which has become one of Sacramento's top-rated drive-time shows. I was talking to her and she was a nice lady, Ybarra said. A Nintendo Wii video game was the prize for winning the "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" contest. The winner of the "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" contest was promised a Nintendo Wii video game system. Contact us. The purpose of this rule is fairly simple: To hold employers responsible for the costs of doing business, including the costs of employee carelessness or misconduct. "Why can't you take in as much water as you want?". Third place film critic, 2021 LA Press Club National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Jan. 13, 2007. http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/01/13/water.intox.ap/index.html, Special Offer on Antivirus Software From HowStuffWorks and TotalAV Security, The London Free Press: Sports drinks fight water intoxication. Jennifer Strange's youngest daughter was just 11 months old when her mother died. Strange, 28, was one of about 18 contestants who tried to win a Nintendo Wii gaming console by seeing how much water they could drink without going to the bathroom. She was reported to have drunk about seven quarts (6-1/2 liters) of water in a bid to win the Wii for her children. A California jury came back witha huge verdict for the family of a 28 year old woman who died as a result of a radio contest gone bad. A preliminary autopsy indicated that Jennifer Strange, 28, died from water intoxication after participating in KDND-FM 107.9's on-air "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" contest Friday. A Nintendo Wii video game was the prize for winning the "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" contest. a Nintendo Wii video . He is currently a metro columnist, appearing on Tuesdays, Thursdays andSaturdays. Over the next month, the jury heard testimony from over 41 witnesses as 192 exhibits were entered into evidence. [43] On April 2, the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office declined to press criminal charges, citing a "lack of evidence of criminal misconduct".[44]. She was crying and that was the last that anyone had heard from her.. Because as tragic as Strange's death was, other contestants on Friday were nearly as ill. "No one was more sick than anyone else," Campos says. The condition is quite rare in the general population, but in distance athletics, it's a known risk and is often avoided by drinking sports drinks instead of water during training and events. The FCC auctioned the frequency in 2021; iHeartMedia won the bidding, and KSTE-FM (now KZIS) began broadcasting on May 4, 2022. A jury awarded $16,577,188 damages against KDND . KDND (107.9 MHz) was an FM radio station licensed to Sacramento, California, United States.The station first signed on in 1947 as KXOA-FM, an FM simulcast of AM station KXOA, before separating itself with distinct programming, including most prominently soft rock, adult contemporary, and classic hits formats. Billy Strange said she is truly her mother's daughter, a comfort to the entire family. "Woman dies from water intoxication." "We were so out of it, so disoriented. Strange was found dead Friday in her suburban Rancho Cordova home hours after taking part in the "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" contest in which KDND 107.9 promised a Nintendo Wii video game system for the winner. If it's caught early, treatment with IV fluids containing electrolytes can lead to a complete recovery; but untreated, hyponatremia is fatal. 82K views 13 years ago Bill O'Reilly and Megyn Kelly discuss the "Hold Your Wee For A Wii" contest from 2007, in which Jennifer Strange died. The "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" event drew participants who wanted to win a Wii video game console. They tried to drink as much water as they could without urinating in a bid to win a Nintendo Wii gaming console. Sodium is a positively charged ion, and its role in the body is to circulate the fluids outside of cells. Our thoughts remain with the family. Are those guys zany and irreverent or what? No family members were present at a news conference this week calling for the rejection of the stations licence renewal. Symptoms of water intoxication actually look a lot like the symptoms of alcohol intoxication, including nausea, altered mental state, and vomiting. She appeared ill, one contestant said. Nevius has been a columnist at the San Francisco Chronicle for more than 20 years, covering sports, reviewing movies and spotting trends. NEW YORK (CBS/AP) The family of Jennifer Strange, a California woman who died after participating in a radio station's water-drinking contest, has been awarded $16.5 million by a California jury. [16] The KXOA stations also had a regionally recognized news team led by Ken Hunt. The show's DJs called the contest "Hold your Wee for a Wii.". asked the female disc jockey. "Make sure he signs the release," he chortled, setting off gales of laughter in the studio. I just can't stop thinking about it.". Strange suffered hyponatremia, or acute water intoxication. By the time she left the station she might as well have been drunk, a doctor testified in her trial earlier this week. Jennifer Strange, 28, was found dead Friday in her suburban Rancho Cordova home hours after taking part in the "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" contest in which KDND 107.9 promised a Nintendo. Who's at risk: Anyone who drinks too much water too fast can be affected, but infants, marathon runners and people working in extreme heat are particularly vulnerable. [20] The format did not improve KXOA's ratings; on March 25, 1994, the station flipped to a classic hits format branded as Arrow 108, adapted from Los Angeles' KCBS-FM. He also wrote about riding the Straight Talk Express with JohnMcCain during his first presidential bid, parachuting out of anairplane and running the Boston Marathon. The KDNDs on-site station management and crew of the Morning Rave show were fired after Stranges death. Hardly. The contestant able to hold the most water would win a Wii video game console; at the time, the Nintendo console was a very popular and sought-after item, but was nearly impossible to find in stores in North America. Water intoxication is basically one form of hyponatremia -- the condition can also be caused by excessive sweating, severe burns, prolonged dehydration and certain liver and kidney problems, among other diseases and conditions. Entercom stated that "it is in the company's best interests to voluntarily turn in the KDND license to facilitate the timely FCC approvals for the planned combination with CBS Radio". Twenty-eight years old, married and the mother of three, Strange had entered the "Hold your Wee for a Wii" contest to try to win a Nintendo Wii video game player for her kids. } The complaint, which does not specify monetary damages, include a number of on-air statements made by radio station personnel, including one DJ who noted that they should have 'researched' water intoxication before conducting the contest. We will respond to any petition filed with the FCC at the appropriate time.. There were lots of reasons to think Jennifer Strange was in deep trouble after she spent hours guzzling in a water-drinking contest at a Sacramento radio station. "It was a preventable thing," Billy Strange told "Good Morning America" today of his wife's 2007 death from water toxicity. [37], The Associated Press reported that the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department spokesman said no officers were investigating the death and that, "It was a contest and people are saying there was no coercion. What happens to First Republic Bank's stock and deposits now? The London Free Press. The whole premise is in the title: Hold Your Wee for a Wii. On July 11, 2019, Alex shot and killed Lori's fourth husband, Charles Vallow. As part of KDND's "Hold your wee for a Wii" contest, Jennifer drank bottle after bottle of water for hours without urinating. In July 1998, two years after the sale of the station to Entercom (now Audacy, Inc.), the station switched to its final KDND call letters and Top 40/CHR format branded as 107.9 The End. "I thought it was just water," Campos says, "that it would just flush out my body. The DJs also joked about Strange's distended belly, joking that she looked three months pregnant. "I asked her, 'How do you feel?' [37] On January 17, the Los Angeles Times reported that Sacramento Sheriff John McGinness had ordered homicide detectives to investigate whether a crime had been committed. I just assumed that because it was a contest, everything would be checked out.". Jennifer Strange, 28, was found dead Friday in her suburban Rancho Cordova home hours after taking part in the Hold Your Wee for a Wii contest in which KDND 107.9 promised a Nintendo Wii video game system for the winner. It seemed a great wheeze at the time - a radio contest called Hold Your Wee for a Wii" . [1] In July 1957, KXOA dropped Mutual to become a Top 40-format music station; later that year, the KXOA stations were sold to Cal-Val Radio. The station first signed on in 1947 as KXOA-FM, an FM simulcast of AM station KXOA, before separating itself with distinct programming, including most prominently soft rock, adult contemporary, and classic hits formats. Originally, the sheriff had said that because the contestants entered under their own free will, there might have been no crime. Tim Curran said Wednesday that the department feels that it has enough information to begin an investigation. Told by another DJ that "We got a guy who's just about to die," one of the jocks had a quick response. [2] For most of this time, KXOA simulcast the AM station, which since its launch had been an affiliate of the Mutual Broadcasting System. KSTE-FM began broadcasts on May 4, 2022, using the former KDND transmission facility at Elverta;[71] following a month of stunting, the new station would launch a hot adult contemporary format on June 8, 2022,[72] and subsequently change its call sign to KZIS. Jennifer Strange, 28, died after drinking over two gallons of water in Sacramento radio station 107.9 The End's "Hold your wee for a Wii" contest. Sacramento sheriff's spokesman Sgt. As a result, sodium helps regulate blood pressure and maintain the signals that let muscles operate properly, among other things. In January 2007, KDND's morning show controversially held an on-air contest in which contestants were challenged to drink as much water as they could without urinating, in order to win a Nintendo Wii video game console. Jennifer Strange, a 28-year-old from Northern California, died in 2007 after participating in a radio station's contest called "Hold Your Wee for a Wii," in which contestants drank large. After the contest, Strange called in sick to work. [55] In October 2016, the FCC designated Entercom's license renewal for KDND for hearing, disputing whether the station had operated in the public interest over its previous license term, spanning from 2005 to 2013. reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and To listen to conversations between the DJs and Jennifer Strange. about FindLaws newsletters, including our terms of use and privacy policy. [68] The allocation was again put up for auction as part of FCC Auction 109 beginning July 27, 2021, and was auctioned off to iHeartMedia for $6,146,000.[69][70]. Stay up-to-date with how the law affects your life. ", "Oh, it hurts," Strange said, while one male disc jockey remarked that she looked pregnant and another, a woman, said "That is so funny.". [23] Not even two weeks later, ARS acquired EZ Communications, which owned two FM and one AM stations in the market. [2] Brown responded by hiring a new operations manager, Don Daniels, from WOMC in Detroit. It seemed a great wheeze at the time - a radio contest called "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" . The wrongful death lawsuit, a copy of which you'll find below, names the radio station's owner and eight individuals as defendants. The family of a California woman who died trying to win a Wii in a radio contest has been awarded $16.5 million in its suit against the station, according to the Associated Press. [2] In early 1971, the station flipped to oldies, and after a brief dalliance with progressive rock known as "Earth Rock", the oldies format returned in 1973. The hosts of KDND-FM's "Morning Rave" were fired Tuesday, a day after the station said it was suspending the show and investigating the death of Jennifer Lea Strange. Wilson said a jury had held the radio station liable for Stranges death, but the FCC has shown "no inclination" to go after its broadcast license despite calls from the victims family for sanctions against the station. [18] Daniels moved to drop 1960s songs from the station's repertoire, and in May 1993, the station flipped to a more uptempo adult contemporary format branded as Xtra 107.9, advertising itself as featuring "no rap, metal, or Madonna". Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate. Strange (pictured above in a family portrait) was awarded two tickets to a Justin Timberlake concert as a consolation prize. As part of KDND's "Hold your wee for a Wii" contest, Jennifer drank bottle after bottle of water for hours without urinating. Brain cells are constrained by the skull and can end up bursting with the pressure of the water they are taking in. Signs and symptoms are usually noticeable after about 2 percent of total body water is lost. As the contestants dropped out, it became clear that some of them were having serious health problems. On September 25, 1945, Lincoln Dellar, who had signed on KXOA (1470 AM) on May 20 of that year,[1] applied to the FCC to build a new FM radio station in Sacramento, originally specifying 95.9MHz as the frequency. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Delivered Wednesdays. On January 24, the FCC announced that it would investigate KDND to see if it violated the terms of its license. Contestants had to drink as much water as they could without going to the bathroom. You would be surprised by the amount of people who die yearly from . Strange, 28, competed in a radio station's contest to see how much water she could drink without going to the bathroom died of water intoxication, the coroner's office said Saturday, Jan. 14, 2007. It was her choice to enter Friday morning's contest. The disc jokeys themselves had raised that possibility during the show. None of the contestants had any idea what they had gotten themselves into. They were heckling her. NOV. 22, 2004 FAMILY PHOTO, Dubs fans picking apart video of possible Poole-Draymond incident, Bay Area mom influencer found guilty of lying about kidnapping, Destructive landslide closes historic California institution, More rain, 'unseasonably chilly' temperatures coming to Bay Area, Bay Area preschool teacher suspected of dumping body along road, Horoscope for Monday, 5/01/23 by Christopher Renstrom, 49ers out in full force at Warriors-Kings Game 7, Shock, fear as 2 killings in 3 days rock quiet Davis, Sold-out Berkeley crowd gets rowdy at country star's concert, Steph Curry killed off the Kings with a smile, 'Horrible': Oakland rapper dumps on Chase Center Warriors fans, Klay Thompson calls Warriors-Lakers series 'a dream come true', Things to do in Napa Valley during Bottlerock, plus hotels, 11 gadgets to boost your WFH productivity, Your Privacy Choices (Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads). ", Strange drank nearly two gallons of water in over three hours on Jan. 12, 2007. John Geary, vice president and general manager of Entercom/Sacramento, the parent company of KDND, sent an e-mail to reporters Tuesday stating that "effective immediately, the 'Morning Rave' program is canceled and 10 employees are no longer with the station.". Well, here's another good one. "In the brief amount of time she got to spend with Jen, the 11 months," he said, "she really picked up on a lot of her qualities and her personality.". "She was in the "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" competition trying to win a Nintendo Wii video game system." In February 2005, a Chico State. Water intoxication causes an electrolyte imbalance that affects concentrations of the ion sodium, and it leads to a condition called hyponatremia. [61][57] 107.9 then began stunting with a jockless playlist of pop music occasionally interrupted by static-backed liners redirecting listeners to KUDL and advising remaining listeners of the impending shutoff of the signal; this would later transition to a loop of "Bye Bye Bye" by N'Sync and "End" staffers redirecting listeners to KUDL. "How can someone die from drinking too much water?" Nov. 2, 2009— -- The husband of a California woman who died after participating in a radio station's water drinking contest said he hopes a jury's $16.5 million compensation award following a wrongful death lawsuit will send a message to other corporations dealing with the public. Jennifer Strange had taken part in the "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" game run by KDND 107.9 radio in Sacramento, which promised the winner a Nintendo Wii. The purpose of this rule is fairly simple: To hold employers responsible for the costs of doing business, including the costs of employee carelessness or misconduct. Several years ago, when Nintendo first released the Wii gaming system a radio station had a promotion titled "Hold Your Wee for a Wii." Contestants periodically drank water to see who could refrain from urinating the longestthe winner would win a Wii gaming system. [56][57], On February 2, 2017, Entercom announced its intent to acquire CBS Radio.