A mother of two sadly passed away after drinking too much water within twenty minutes, according to her family.
Over the Fourth of July weekend, Ashley Summers, 35, was enjoying a visit to Indiana’s Lake Freeman with her husband and two daughters when she began feeling extremely dehydrated and severely light-headed.
She decided to quench her thirst with water, but it did not relieve her symptoms, therefore she ended up drinking the equivalent of four 16oz bottles in 20 minutes, per WRTV.
"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," her brother Devon Miller told the outlet.
After consuming multiple bottles of water in a short span, Summers' family returned from the Independence Day trip, and she ended up collapsing out in the garage. She was then rushed to IU Health Arnett Hospital.
"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 said.
Unfortunately, Summers never regained consciousness and doctors informed her grieving family that she had tragically died from water toxicity. Her brother, Devon Miller, was in disbelief when he heard about his sister’s condition, saying: "It was a shock to all of us. When they first started talking about water toxicity. It was like this is a thing?"
Water toxicity - also known as water poisoning - happens when too much water is ingested in a short period of time, or if the kidneys retain too much water due to underlying health conditions. The symptoms include feeling unwell as well as having headaches, soreness, nausea, and muscle cramps.
Dr. Alok Harwani, a physician at the hospital, spoke to WLFI about the fatal incident and said that the condition is "relatively rare." He also informed people that when spending time outside in hot weather, you need to eat or drink things with electrolytes, like fruit, as well as plain water - as this allows your body to maintain the balance of water and sodium in the blood.
"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," Harwani explained. "Things to look out for are if you just start feeling really out of it, very tired, very fatigued."
"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]," the doctor added.
Summers' family revealed that she was an organ donor and was able to donate her heart, liver, lungs, kidneys, and some of her long bone tissue - ultimately saving five other lives.
Our thoughts are with her family and friends at this time.
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