Jess Hardiman
A 10-year-old boy almost died after drinking too much water, having terrifyingly lost control of his limbs and head, appearing almost 'drunk'.
Ray Jordan had been enjoying himself on the sunny 4 July weekend in Columbia, South Carolina, when things took an unexpectedly terrifying turn.
He had been playing with his young cousins, ‘running circles around the house, a bunch of boys together, jumping on the trampoline'.
After ‘going full throttle’ with his relatives in the sun, Ray had popped inside to get himself some water.
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However, unbeknownst to his parents, he’d actually over-hydrated, knocking back six bottles of water between 8.30pm and 9.30pm.
Around an hour later, at 10.30pm, his parents Stacy and Jeff Jordan began to notice something was wrong when the youngster began throwing up, saying it felt like their son was ‘on drugs’ or ‘drunk’.
Speaking to WISTV, Jeff said: “He couldn’t control his head or arms or anything. His motor functions were gone. I rushed him straight up to Richland Children’s at that point.”
When they arrived at the hospital, the family learnt that poor Ray was, indeed, suffering with intoxication – though not from the booze.
Instead Ray had water intoxication - also known as water poisoning, hyponatraemia or hyperhydration – which is what happens when the body consumes too much water for the kidneys to regulate.
A potentially fatal condition, the excess water leads to an imbalance of electrolytes like sodium, potassium and calcium.
Doctors ran a series of tests on Ray to try and figure out what was wrong with him, and found his sodium levels were dangerously low.
Stacy said: “They were giving him something to help him urinate as much as possible to get those fluids out because it was swelling around his brain, that was why his head was hurting so much.”
Medics also gave Ray sodium and potassium to help try and regulate his blood.
Thankfully, Ray made a full recovery and is now in good health, with the family now eager to spread the word about the unexpected dangers of drinking too much water - even on a hot, sunny day.
Stacy and Jeff said the incident has taught them the importance of alternating between drinking water and sports drinks such as Gatorade, as these contain electrolytes that don’t dilute your bloodstream in the same way water does.
For children, the NHS recommends drinking 6-8 glasses of fluid per day, saying the ‘best drinks to slurp are water and semi-skimmed milk’.
Ray's parents also expressed their gratitude to staff at Prisma Health Children’s Hospital in Columbia for everything they did for their little boy, with Jeff adding: “It never would’ve even occurred to us that he was washing everything out, and that it was dangerous.”