Ten Fired In Wii Wee Tragedy
You may recall the recent Wii water tragedy at a radio contest in which contestants competed to win a Wii by seeing who could drink the most water while going the longest without peeing. One unfortunate young woman died as a result, after trying to win a Wii for her children. Water intoxication is largely assumed to be the cause, although the coroner has yet to evaluate the definite cause of death.
Now it seems that the radio station that held the contest, KDND 107.9, has fired ten employees, including several DJs.
From Reuters:
In an online recording of the show, the DJs can be heard making comments joking about people dying from water intoxication, even discussing a case in Northern California two years ago in which student Matthew Carrington, 21, died after drinking too much water during a fraternity pledge. One of the DJs even admitted they maybe should have done some research before the contest.
While that won't stop legal action, it might be a good indicator of the potential fallout of this tragedy.
Ten Sacked in Wii Contest Tragedy [Guardian Unlimited]
Toots
Posted to Hot Stuff, Video Games on 17 January 2007
· Comments (6)
Other stuff like this: contest, kdnd, wii tragedy
XD NICE PICTURE TO GO WITH THE STORY! LOL!
i think the djs joking about the deaths may be what saves their asses. wouldn't the contestants have heard them joking and stop to think, "maybe this isn't such a good idea?" the nurse calling in to argue was probably a good tip-off too, but that's only if the contestants heard it as well.
nevertheless, this station's parent company is in for a lot of financial hurt. firing the morning staff was a good pr move, but it isn't going to bring those kids' mother back.. and chances are whatever 'waiver' they had their contestants sign isn't going to stand up too well in court.
this was a really depressing tragedy all around.
.... this story has actually been in the back of my head for the last 2 days. i just feel really bad for that woman's kids. all she wanted to do was get them a wii....
It's stupid that they didn't do the research first. I know you could die from water intoxication, its what most people are hospitalized for when they drink too much water when rolling on x. But you could also kill your kidneys. Didn't they think about kidney failure being a liability? That one is common knowledge, hold your wee too long *BOOM* you got kidney problems. I hate ignorance.
Well to me, it seems to me the most reasonable thing to do.
I read a story today on comcast news that said criminal charges may be filed. Apparently someone called the station and warned them about water intoxication and the DJ's reply was along the lines of "they signed waivers, we don't care"