An Indiana mother of two died in July after consuming too much water too rapidly, according to her family.
Ashley Summers was visiting Indiana’s Lake Freeman for the Fourth of July weekend when she told others around her that she was dehydrated, light-headed, and couldn’t drink enough water. She returned home and passed out in her garage after drinking many bottles of water in a short period of time.
Her relatives hurried her to IU Health Arnett Hospital, but she never recovered consciousness, succumbing to water toxicity.
“It was a shock to all of us. When they first started talking about water toxicity. It was like this is a thing?” Devon Miller, Ashley’s brother, told WRTV.
What is water toxicity?
“Someone said she drank four bottles of water in 20 minutes. I mean, an average water bottle is like 16 ounces, so that was 64 ounces that she drank in a span of 20 minutes. That’s half a gallon. That’s what you’re supposed to drink in a whole day,” he added.
“It’s relatively rare,” Dr. Alok Harwani, a physician at the hospital, told WLFI. “Now, what we are concerned about is just drinking too much water in a short period of time. Your kidneys can really only clear about a liter of water per hour.”
When spending a lot of time outside in hot weather, the doctor recommends eating or drinking products with electrolytes, such as fruit or Gatorade, in addition to plain water to assist maintain the balance of water and sodium in the blood.
“Things to look out for are if you just start feeling really out of it, very tired, very fatigued,” he added. “Sometimes patients feel like they’re starting to have a mild headache, or are just feeling overall unwell. Those could be early signs of water intoxication … So, if you’re really concerned that you or a family member is not acting right and you’re worried about water toxicity, don’t hesitate to call 911, don’t hesitate to go to the [emergency room].”
Water toxicity has already resulted in deaths in a variety of settings.
People have died from the disease in everything from a radio station’s on-air water drinking contest to a fraternity hazing rite in which a California university student was forced to drink huge amounts of water in between rounds of push-ups, according to Scientific American.
Clubbers, particularly those on stimulants such as MDMA, are particularly vulnerable to the illness since they sweat heavily and refresh with water after hours of dancing.
