The family of a 35-year-old mother of two is raising awareness about a rare, yet potentially fatal condition – water intoxication.
Over the Fourth of July weekend, Ashley Summers and her family spent their time at Lake Freeman near Monticello, Indiana.
At one point she began to feel extremely dehydrated and complained of a headache and feeling lightheaded.
To combat her intense thirst, Summers began to chug water.
“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,” her brother Devon Miller told WRTV.
Summers made it home, but she never made it inside. She passed out in the family’s garage.
The mother of two was rushed to IU Health Arnett Hospital, but she never regained consciousness.
Doctors informed her family she died from water intoxication, a rare condition caused by drinking too much water too fast, upsetting electrolyte balances.
Severe cases can result in seizures, coma, and even death.
“It was a shock to all of us. When they first started talking about water toxicity. It was like this is a thing?”
While Summers’ family mourns her death, they are finding some hope after learning she was able to donate her organs to five people.
“They were able to get her heart, her lungs, her liver, her kidneys and her long bone tissue,” Miller said. “Five individuals are getting a second lease on life because of her generous donation.”
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Water intoxication is real, and it kills. There needs to be more awareness around this rare condition, especially during the summer when the temperatures are so high and everyone wants nothing more than a glass of ice cold water.
