A wrongful death lawsuit was expected in the death of Jennifer Strange, a mother of three who died hours after a water-drinking contest at an Entercom radio station, the Sacramento Bee reported.
Strange’s death made national news. She died a week ago in her home; earlier she had participated in a “Hold your wee for a Wii” contest, “drinking what one contestant said was nearly two gallons of water in the kitchen of the station’s Madison Avenue office,” the paper reported. Reuters reported that the coroner’s office called the death consistent with water intoxication.
The contest at KDND(FM) was to drink the most water without going to the bathroom; the prize was a Nintendo Wii video game system.
Reuters reported that the station has fired 10 staff members. “They are no longer with the company for violating the terms of their employment agreements with the station,” it quoted a spokesman.
Also according to Reuters, an online audio recording of the show reveals the DJs making comments joking about people dying from water intoxication.
Entercom Sacramento VP/GM John Geary posted a notice on the station Web site informing visitors that the Morning Rave show had been canceled. “I also want to assure you that the circumstances regarding this matter are being examined as thoroughly as possible,” he wrote, expressing sympathies for Strange’s family.
A fellow contestant told AP, “I was talking to her and she was a nice lady. She was telling me about her family and her three kids and how she was doing it for her kids.”
