Family awarded $16.5 million for wrongful death in 'Hold Your Wee for a Wii' contest
By Laura June 
posted Oct 30th 2009 2:29PM
posted Oct 30th 2009 2:29PM
Way back in January of 2007, we reported on the Strange family, who were suing Sacramento radio station KDND-FM for the wrongful death of Jennifer Strange, who was found dead in her home after competing in a contest to try to win a Nintendo Wii. The contest -- "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" -- involved seeing who could drink the most water without urinating, and Jennifer, who did not win, left the studio and later died. Her autopsy later showed signs of water intoxication. Yesterday, a California jury ruled a wrongful death in the case, and ordered Entercom Sacramento LLC, a subsidiary of Philadelphia-based Entercom Communications Corp., to pay $16.5 million dollars to her family as a result of the actions of the radio station's employees.
this is.... real?
yes theres more to life then just myspace
What a crazy story....poor mother, she just wanted to win a stupid f'kin Wii, at the height of the Wii madness. She wanted to be a hero to her family/kids by winning this stupid f'kin contest. The family will never be the same. Everytime they see any reference to the Wii, they won't be able not to think of their deceased loved one.
Even $16 million can't erase the memory of a loved one, especially that of a mother and what she tried to do for her loved ones.
IDK, $16m can go a LONG way! This isn't really the radio station's fault, it's not like they forced her to drink it. And who's ever heard of water intoxication before this whole fiasco?
@Mjayhunt:
I had, I'm sure many others. The amount of water dilutes the amount of sodium in your body and your body can't function, or something similar to that. 16 million can go a long way materially, but mentally, emotionally, and physical it can do nothing.
There was a guy who died from water intoxication in a fraternity hazing a few years ago - was a huge story back then. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5012154 .
@Mjayhunt:
Yea, water intoxication isn't exactly a rare thing. Normally I'm the first to say people need to be responsible for what they do, but it's not like she drank too much bottled water and is trying to sue the water company...this is more like someone saying 'hey, i'll give you a thousand bucks if you shoot yourself in the foot' and then claiming it's all legal because you did it to yourself. If you're holding a contest that _could kill somebody_ you need to make sure nobody gets hurt.
@Mjayhunt: The station had. Medical practicioners called up the station, advised them that the stunt was very dangerous, and the station essentially blew them off and proceeded with the stunt without properly advising participants of the risk. Hence, the $16.5 mil. judgement.
I'd make the guy in the glasses pay. It is obviously his fault.
It's the radio stations fault for not having the contestants sign a waiver. They deserved to be sued for not covering their asses.
I gotta ask what happened to the winner, it says she didn't win implying she drank less than someone else....
Mojohat - You cant sign away liability.
Those CYA forms only protect companies from people who believe that they cant sue because they singed a form.
http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/
This is what happens when regional brainless morning zoo radio hosts thinks they can become Howard Stern by doing something "shocking" without using their heads.
@Konshoss
While I see your point, I just want to make it clear that Stern would never, ever, ever, have a "Hold your wee for a wii" contest...
"Get kicked in the nuts for a wii," maybe.
"A cock to the face for a wii," sure.
"Lick Richard Christy's taint for a wii," absolutely.
@Michael
I never inferred he would. I've listened to Howard for years and he HAS had contests like this, but they were done with a finite amount of water, as in one bottle an hour or so, and the first person simply to pee would be out. Why anyone, radio show or not would think the logical thing to do in a contest like this would be to drink as much water as humanly possible, as quickly as possible is completely beyond me and is deserving of a full psychiatric evaluation. Preferably by Dr. Keith Ablow.
Yes, I'm not being sensitive: morons. All of them! Stupid contest idea and stupid contestants.
Hey at least for her stupidity, her family are cool millionaires...and they can now buy a Wii...
I have to agree it is a stupid idea, especially because that's when the Wii was at its peak where anyone would do just about anything for a Wii.
Who cares what your opinion is? A woman died.
@barry
A woman died doing something she chose to do. Doing something that most ADULTS understand would be dangerous. Every day thousands of women die, and I would guess the majority of those woman's families are far more deserving of 16 million dollars than this stupid woman's.
Did you ever consider that the woman who died never heard of water intoxication and had no idea that drinking so much at one time of something we all take for granted could actually kill you? Stupid contest, yes...stupid contestant...well, maybe not in this case...
next post please....
DjD: your grandma or mom never told you that drinking or eating too much of ANYTHING is bad for you?
That should be enough. Her mother should be sued, not the station.
Yeah, troll or just a pinhead, not sure. People are stupid, but you can see from the picture that she was probably a dedicated mother who either couldn't afford one or just wanted to see her kids light up when she walked in the door with a Wii.
So, up yours, karma is a real thing. My condolences to the family.
I love it, though. You call her a moron, yet you hang out on a semi-legit news blog. Yep. Trying to surprise her kids. What a moron.
*I'm not condoning what she did. And I'm the first one to harp for personal responsibility - but give her a break.
In any case, the radio station was in a better position to find out about the risks of this practice than the woman. And the woman could rationally expect that the station would have considered the risks involved, and would have briefed her properly.
It's simple. If you create a risk, you are liable in case it's realized.
@mulerobot
You can see from a posed picture that she's a dedicated mother?
*looks at the picture sideways*
I guess I'm just not as in tune with psychiatric analysis through studio photography.
Hrmm....She already procreated :/
Guns don't kill people, water does...
@mulerobot
You say karma is a real thing. Doesn't that mean she did something bad enough that she deserved to die?
//I'm not saying that she deserved to die, just what mulerobot is saying.
During the contest the station was contacted by concerned nurse calling in to tell them that this could be fatal to the contestants, but DJ's chose to ignore this warning. It's too bad that the judgment is just against the radio station and not the dumb f*ck disc jockeys as well.
If insensitive is your code word for douchbag, then yes you're being insensitive.
If insensitive is your code word for douche then yes you're being insensitive.
@ WmPenn
I used insensitive to describe myself with an adjective.
If you want to call me a douche bag, just do that next time instead.
Ouch! Not funny!
Yeah it's really pretty sad. It happened a few months after a couple of kids died in a frat hazing nearby from a water drinking challenge also so it's especially stupid.
So Monica, why do you link to fling.com through your website but not something more sensible like facebook or myspace which still allows you to screen people while being free and avoiding spam?
Cuz "shes" a spammer. Been on a lot of sites with the same pics lately and the links go back to a dating site.
Facepalm.
No such thing as a "face palm"
Your face is on your head, and your palm is on your hand
That's like saying "there's no such thing as ice cream - there's ice, then there's cream." Facepalm is smacking your face with your palm.
So you're suggesting that it should be "headhand"?
and? no one does that. May be you kids these days, but real people just shake their heads
Your boyfriend's head does not count as yours.
In the context of your sentence there is no such thing as "may be". Its Maybe.
@Shaka
it's
@chris: so this "facebook" site must not exist either. Since...you know, your face and books aren't attached.
Also: handshakes confuse me now.
@FreeRange
Agreed. /facepalm *It's*
Your name is like totally confusing Chris too I bet. You must not exist. =P
What a stupid idea for a contest. The "contests" that radio stations come up with never cease to amaze me with their sheer stupidity.
Whoever can take the most bullets to the limbs without bleeding out wins a free Playstation 3!
a PS3?
that's a bit OTT don't you think?
some people would probably settle for an xbox 360 or a DSi XL.