Mom dies from drinking too much water, family says

Posted By: Sophia Andrew

Posted On: August 6, 2023

A family from Indiana wants to let everyone know that drinking too much water in hot summer months can be really dangerous and even deadly.

One sad example of this happened to Ashley Miller, a 35-year-old mom. She passed away from water toxicity during the Fourth of July weekend while she was out in the sun.

Her brother, Devon Miller, shared that she loved being near the water. For the holiday weekend, she spent time on Lake Freeman with her husband and two daughters. They were on a boat from Saturday to Tuesday.

On Tuesday, Devon got a call from his sister Holly, who was really upset. She told him that their sister Ashley was in the hospital and had a swelling in her brain. The doctors didn’t know what caused it and didn’t have a solution to make it go away. Things didn’t look good.

Before that happened, Ashley was feeling dehydrated and felt like she needed a lot of water. She felt dizzy and had a headache. In just 20 minutes, she drank four bottles of water, and each bottle was about 16 ounces.

That’s a total of 64 ounces, which is half a gallon of water. Normally, you’re supposed to drink that much in a whole day, not all at once.

After coming back home that night, Ashley passed out in her garage, and she didn’t wake up again. The doctors told her family that she died because of something called water toxicity.

Ashley’s brother was surprised when he heard about water toxicity for the first time. He didn’t know it was a real thing.

A toxicologist named Dr. Blake Froberg from the Indiana University School of Medicine explained that water toxicity happens when someone drinks a lot of water too fast.

Dr. Blake Froberg explains that there are certain things that can make someone more at risk of water toxicity. The main problem is having too much water in the body and not enough sodium.

Water toxicity is rare, but in the hot summer months or if someone works outside or exercises a lot, they should have a plan to stay hydrated. Drinking beverages with electrolytes like sodium and potassium, such as Gatorade, can be helpful.

Some signs of water toxicity include feeling unwell, having muscle cramps and soreness, feeling nauseous, and getting headaches.

Ashley Summers, who sadly passed away from water toxicity, was an organ donor. Her organs were able to save the lives of five other people.

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