Ashley Summers, 35, died from water toxicity shortly after spending the long Fourth of July weekend at Lake Freeman.
She felt lightheaded and had a headache on the last day of her vacation, symptoms of dehydration, yet no amount of water could quench her thirst. According to Mail Online, she drank the equivalent of four 16oz (500ml) bottles.
Ms. Summers fainted in her garage when she arrived home, having experienced severe brain swelling. She was never able to regain consciousness.
Doctors diagnosed her with water toxicity, also known as hyponatremia, which occurs when there is too much water in the body and not enough sodium
Ms. Summers’ brother, Devon Miller, was taken aback when he learned of his sister’s illness. ‘It was a tremendous shock to us all,’ he said. I was thinking, ‘Is this a thing?’
‘She simply felt like she couldn’t get enough water,’ Mr. Miller added. It was probably a 20-minute boat ride from the sand bar to the dock… she drank four bottles of water in that 20-minute period.’
On a weekend vacation boat trip, the Summers family went to Lake Freeman, a popular summer destination about 80 miles north of Indianapolis.
The family had been staying at the location from Saturday, July 1 until Tuesday, July 4.
Ms. Summers’ family reported that she was dehydrated and couldn’t drink enough water to relieve her thirst on Tuesday morning.
Mr. Miller received a frightening call regarding Ashley from his other sister on Tuesday evening. She passed out in her garage and was rushed to Indiana University Health Arnett Hospital.
‘My sister, Holly, called me, and she was an absolute wreck,’ he explained.
“Ashley is in the hospital,” she said. She has brain swelling, and they don’t know what’s causing it or what they can do to get it to go away. It’s not looking good.”
Ms Summers never regained consciousness, and physicians diagnosed her with hyponatraemia, or water poisoning.