Hold Your Wee For A Wii

A Sacramento area radio station fired 10 employees today, including three morning disc jockeys, after a mother of three died following an on-air water-drinking contest last week at the station's studios.

The hosts of KDND-FM's ''Morning Rave'' who go by the on-air names Trish, Maney and Lukas were fired a day after the station announced it was suspending the show and investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of Jennifer Lea Strange.

Strange, 28, died after participating in a water-drinking contest on the program, and was one of about 18 contestants who tried to win a Nintendo Wii gaming console early Friday by seeing how much water they could drink without going to the bathroom. The show's DJs called the contest ''Hold your Wee for a Wii.''

The ''Morning Rave'' had been on the air for about five years and was one of the capital's top-ranked morning drive programs.

During the contest, participants were given two minutes to drink an 8-ounce bottle of water and then given another bottle to drink after a 10-minute break.

Strange had showed fellow contestants photographs of her two sons and daughter, for whom she was hoping to win the Nintendo Wii. The game console sells for about $250.

Strange, who placed second, and others kept going even after they were handed even larger containers, but Strange may have drunk nearly two gallons. Afterward, she appeared ill when she went on the air, one contestant noted.

Following the contest, Strange called in sick to work. About five hours later she was found dead at her home.

The Sacramento County coroner said preliminary autopsy findings indicated she died of water intoxication.

Drinking large quantities of water rapidly can throw off the body's balance of electrolytes, causing brain swelling and leading to seizures, coma, or even death.

In February 2005, a Chico State University student died after drinking too much water in a hazing incident at a fraternity. Matthew Carrington was forced to repeatedly drink from a 5-gallon jug and then do calisthenics.

In that case, one fraternity member pleaded guilty to felony involuntary manslaughter and two others pleaded guilty to being accessories to manslaughter, among other charges.