American mum dies from water toxity after drinking 2L in 20 minutes

NZ Herald

4 Aug, 2023 02:07 AM2 mins to read

Ashley Summers, an Indiana woman who died of water toxicity in July. Photo / Facebook

A mother of two from the US has died after guzzling around 2L of water in 20 minutes.

Ashley Summers was spending time at Lake Freeman in Indiana in early July when she became lightheaded.

With a banging headache and symptoms of dehydration, she decided to drink a bottle of water.

But not able to quench her thirst, she downed four 500ml bottles of water inside 20 minutes.

She returned home but collapsed in her garage where she suffered severe brain swelling. She never regained consciousness.

Doctors at the hospital diagnosed her with water toxicity hyponatremia, which develops as a result of there being too much water in the body and not enough sodium.

Summers’ brother, Devon Miller told local network WRTV he was in disbelief.

“Someone said she drank four bottles of water in 20 minutes.

“I mean, an average water bottle is like 16 ounces (500ml), so that was 64 ounces that she drank in a span of 20 minutes. That’s half a gallon (nearly 2L). That’s what you’re supposed to drink in a whole day.

“My sister, Holly, called me, and she was just an absolute wreck. She was like ‘Ashley is in the hospital. She has brain swelling, they don’t know what’s causing it, they don’t know what they can do to get it to go down, and it’s not looking good,’” Miller told WRTV.

Ashley Summers was on the lake with her husband and two daughters when she began feeling ill. Photo / Facebook

Physician Alok Harwani explained to WLFI why it’s dangerous to drink so much water in a short space of time.

“Your kidneys can really only clear about a litre of water per hour.”

The doctor said it’s a good idea when spending a lot of time outside in hot weather to continue to eat or drink things with electrolytes, like fruit or Powerade.

Dr Blake Froberg, a toxicologist with IU Health, also weighed in, telling WRTV this rare cause of death is more likely to occur to someone who works outside regularly or exercises during hot summer periods.

“There are certain things that can make someone more at risk for it, but the overall thing that happens is that you have too much water and not enough sodium in your body.

“Make sure that you’re drinking things that have electrolytes and sodium and some potassium.”