£9.7compensation over contest death
The family of a woman who died after drinking excessive water as part of a contest has received £9.7m in compensation.
A court found a radio station, which ran the contest and its owner liable for professional negligence in early 2007.
The mother-of-three, had joined the contest to win a Nintendo Wii by seeing who could drink the most without going to the toilet.
Not only did she not win but died a few hours later due to acute water intoxication, which occurs when the normal balance of electrolytes in the body is altered by rapid consumption of water.
This eventually leads to swelling of the brain and stopping it regulating vital functions such as breathing, and ultimately results in death.
In the contest, the participants were asked to drink 225-ml bottles every 15 minutes without going to the toilet.After eight rounds, contestants drank half-litre bottles.
The 28 year old woman is said to have drunk nearly 7.5 litres in the hope of winning the games console for her children.
During the trial, a radio station and its owner argued that the woman should have known the contest could harmful her life.
The organisers did not face criminal charges, but 10 employees of the radio station have been sacked.
Updated on 02/11/2009