Death of a contestant in KDND radio contest On January 12, 2007, a listener named Jennifer Strange, 28, died of water intoxication hours after taking part in the "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" contest in which KDND promised a Wii video game system for the winner. In the competition, contestants were asked to drink as much water as they could without urinating. The contestant able to hold the most water would be named the winner. According to contest participants, 17 to 20 contestants took part in the competition in a room at KDND's studios. The contest was broadcast during the station's Morning Rave program and began around 6:15 a.m. as contestants were each handed 240ml (8oz) water bottles to drink at 15-minute intervals. Contestants also said that as the contest progressed, they were given increasingly large quantities of water to drink. Some later remarked on the physical discomfort they suffered during and following the event. The Sacramento Bee released audio clips from the morning show indicating that the disc jockeys were aware of the death of Matthew Carrington by water intoxication. At one point, a caller contacted the station and informed the DJs that the contest could be dangerous and potentially fatal. The DJs responded by saying, "We're aware of that," and joked that the contestants had signed releases and couldn't file a lawsuit. However, according to a contestant, the waivers addressed only publicity issues and made no mention of health or safety concerns. The DJs also joked about Strange's distended belly, joking that she looked three months pregnant. After the contest, Strange spoke to a co-worker by telephone, indicating she was on her way home and in extreme pain, suffering from what appeared to be an intense headache. The co-worker contacted Strange's mother, who went to her home an hour later to find her daughter dead. On January 15, 2007, the front page of KDND's website was replaced with a message from John Geary, the station's vice-president and general manager, expressing sympathies to Strange's family and announcing that the Morning Rave program would be taken off the air indefinitely. On January 16, 2007, Geary dismissed ten station employees — including the three morning disc jockeys, Lukas Cox, Steve Maney and Patricia Sweet — from their positions in connection with the tragedy and canceled the Morning Rave. In consequence, all references to the Morning Rave program and associated DJs were removed from the KDND website. 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." However, Deborah Hoffman of KXTV television reported that former prosecutor Bill Portanova commented that "the radio station has some serious liability exposure", due in part to widespread news coverage of the Matthew Carrington case two years earlier. On January 17, 2007, The Sacramento Bee reported that Sacramento Sheriff John McGinness, having heard audio recordings of the Morning Rave contest, ordered homicide detectives to investigate whether a crime had been committed. However, on April 2, the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office declined to press criminal charges, citing a "lack of evidence of criminal misconduct." On January 18, 2007, a wrongful death lawsuit was announced on behalf of Strange's husband and three children against Entercom Sacramento LLC and Entercom Communications Corporation, the corporate operators of KDND. The Strange family was represented by prominent Sacramento attorney Roger A. Dreyer of the firm of Dreyer, Babich, Buccola & Callaham, LLP. The Stranges urged the FCC to shut down the station and punish Entercom. On January 24, 2007, the FCC announced that it would investigate KDND to see if it violated the terms of its license.

I'm not even going to try to add anything here.... I don't know why I cant find this story in the Darwin archives, I can't possibly be the first person to send this one to you guys...

Submitted on 10/18/2013

Submitted by: Scott Benowitz
Reference:

Copyright © 2013 DarwinAwards.com

Bruce said:
Definitely Toss: Repeat
Thanks, Scott, but we did receive this story numerous times back when the incident occurred. Here's one of the submissions I found with a quick search for the word 'wii': http://darwinawards.com/reject/200910/pending20091030-112641.html

Candi said:
Definitely Toss: Repeat
What Bruce said.

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