A 10-year-old boy was rushed to hospital with water intoxication after drinking six bottles in just one hour.
Ray Jordan was rushed to Prisma Health Children's Hospital in Columbia, South Carolina, after suffering from water intoxication. The boy had been playing outside with his cousins during the hot weather and drank six bottles of water within an hour.
Symptoms of water intoxication began to appear, including vomiting and loss of motor function. Doctors who examined him at the hospital discovered extremely low sodium levels in his blood, a condition that occurs when the kidneys can't handle excessive water intake.
Ray's parents, Stacy and Jeff Jordan expressed their concern over their son's condition and described Ray's symptoms, stating that he appeared intoxicated, mentally impaired, and unable to control his head or arms.
They told WIS-TV: "He ran outside with his cousins and started playing. They were full throttle running circles around the house, a bunch of boys together, jumping on the trampoline."
After a while, the boy felt exhausted from the heat and started drinking water. His parents said: "He had gone in and gotten himself some water. What we didn’t realise was how much he got."
And added: "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. He almost seemed like he was on drugs, drunk, even mentally handicapped at that point."
Doctors also found swelling around his brain which caused him severe headache. To manage that, they administered fluids to help him urinate and regulate his blood sodium and potassium levels.
Ray eventually recovered and didn't experience any lasting effects. The incident taught his parents the importance of alternating between water and sports drinks on hot days to maintain electrolyte balance.
The family is grateful to the hospital staff and hopes their story raises awareness about the dangers of water intoxication, particularly during the summer.
People in South Carolina are facing significantly hot weather these days with temperatures ranging from the upper 80s to low 90s Fahrenheit (27C to 35C).
The National Weather Service has issued several excessive heat warnings for multiple states as a heat wave builds across much of the southern tier of the US.
The combination of high temperatures and humidity makes it feel like 105-110 Fahrenheit (40C to 43C). These conditions are expected to continue through the weekend and into the next week.
