WATER
INTOXICATION

Topics: Appetites; Consequences; Desires; Greed; Idolatry; Thirst

References: 2 Samuel 14:14; Proverbs 25:16–17; John 4:1–26; Ephesians 5:18

Jennifer Strange, twenty-eight, died trying to win a Nintendo.

In January 2007, a radio station in Sacramento, California, staged a water-drinking contest, promising a Nintendo Wii video game system to the person whose bladder held out the longest.

Strange did her best, but she didn’t win the contest. Furthermore, several hours after the contest, Jennifer left work with a terrible headache. Later that day she was found dead in her house. An autopsy revealed that too much water had disrupted the electrolyte balance in her blood. Jennifer Strange literally died of water intoxication.

—Associated Press, “Woman Dies after Water-Drinking Contest,” MSNBC.com (January 13, 2007)