Water Can Kill

NATIONAL CENTER FOR CASE STUDY TEACHING IN SCIENCE

Water Can Kill?

Exploring Effects of Osmosis

by

Susan D. Hester

Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology

University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

Part I – Three True Stories

Case 1: Jennifer Strange 1,2

Jennifer Strange was a 28-year-old mother of three who entered a radio contest to try to win a

Nintendo Wii game system for her children. As part of KDND’s “Hold your wee for a Wii” contest,

Jennifer drank bottle after bottle of water for hours without urinating.

Initially, Jennifer seemed to be having fun, joking lightheartedly with the radio hosts and

obligingly downing an 8-ounce bottle of water every 15 minutes. As the hours passed, however, she

developed a splitting headache and dizziness. Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore and ran to the

bathroom and vomited.

Jennifer called her boss to say that she was going home for the day because her headache was

excruciating and she was too sick for work. Jennifer’s mother found her that afternoon, dead in her

home.

Case 2: Cassandra Killpack 3

After a 3 ½-week trial, a jury found Jennete Killpack, 29, guilty of killing her 4-year-old adopted

daughter Cassandra by forcing approximately a gallon of water down the girl’s throat in an attempt

to discipline her.

A few hours after the “hydro-discipline,” the Killpacks called the paramedics because Cassandra was

unresponsive. The paramedics delivered her to the hospital, where she died later that day. Medical

investigation found that Cassandra’s brain was swollen and the concentration of sodium in her blood

and tissues was far below normal.

Case 3: James McBride 4

James McBride, a 25-year-old police officer, died after a 12-mile bike ride that was part of a

training course. Over the course of the ride, James drank roughly three gallons of water that he

brought with him in a pack.

During a session that focused on how to...