Compensation awarded after water-drinking contest death

The family of a woman who died after entering a water drinking contest to win a Nintendo Wii have been awarded $16 million (£9.7 millon) in compensation.

The competition, called Hold Your Wee For a Wii, encouraged participants to drink copious amounts of water without urinating over an extended period of time.

In January 2007, Jennifer Strange, 28, entered the event - run by Sacramento radio station KDND-FM - which saw contestants drink 250 ml of water every 15 minutes without relieving themselves.

After eight rounds, the volume of water increased to half a litre. It is estimated that Mrs Strange drank 7.5 litres of fluid. She died several hours afterwards of water intoxication, according to the post mortem report.

Her husband and three children were awarded $16 million in compensation, less than half of the amount of over $34 million (£20.5 million) stated in the initial lawsuit.

Water intoxication and the related condition hyponatremia, which refers to the dilution of sodium within the body, cause an electrolyte imbalance and swelling within the brain. This may lead to seizures, coma and eventually death.

The condition can be induced by drinking large volumes of water over a short period of time.

Posted by Claire Manning