Indiana Woman Dies After Drinking Too Much Water

Imagine spending a scorching day at Lake Freeman in Indiana. The sun’s blazing, you’re with your loved ones, and you’re trying to stay hydrated. As the heat intensifies, you start to feel faint, your throat is parched, and you can’t seem to quench your thirst. You start guzzling water, bottle after bottle. Sound familiar? This was the reality for Ashley Summers, a mother of two, whose story serves as an upsetting reminder of excessive hydration’s hidden dangers.

10 Ashley didn’t think too much about drinking excessive amounts of water

As you gulp down water, you feel a little better, right? Ashley thought so too. However, upon returning home, she stumbled and collapsed in the garage. The alarm bells started ringing, and her family rushed her to the IU Health Arnett Hospital, but it was too late. Ashley never regained her consciousness and succumbed to a condition known as water toxicity.

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9 Is “water toxicity” even real?

Her family was left shell-shocked. Is water toxicity even a thing? You might think, echoing Ashley’s brother Devon Miller’s sentiments. “It was a shock to all of us. When they first started talking about water toxicity. It was like, this is a thing? 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,” Devon explained.

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8 It is a rare and fatal condition

Dr. Alok Harwani, a physician at the hospital, chimed in to explain this rare yet fatal condition. He explained, “It’s relatively rare. 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.”

The medical expert recommended that if you find yourself outdoors on a hot day, it’s vital to substitute your water intake with foods or beverages rich in electrolytes, like fruit or sports drinks such as Gatorade. This practice helps sustain the balance of water and sodium in your body.

The doctor further cautioned that if you start to feel off - unusually tired or mildly fatigued, it’s time to take notice. “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].”

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7 What are the signs of water toxicity?

Some people may also experience a slight headache or a general feeling of being unwell. These can all be preliminary indicators of water intoxication. Hence, if you worry about yourself or a loved one showing such symptoms suggestive of water toxicity, it’s crucial not to delay heading straight to the emergency room.

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