UK NEWS

DRINKING 17 PINTS OF WATER KILLED A KEEN SPORTSMAN

Water: Eased pain

Tuesday July 8,2008

By Paul Jeeves

AN active sportsman drank himself to death – on water.

Andrew Thornton, 44, downed 17 pints in eight hours to try to relieve pain from his diseased gums.

The fluid retained in his body rocketed by five times the normal amount, putting his organs under strain and causing a fatal heart attack.

Warehouseman Mr Thornton had shunned painkillers for decades, believing water was better for him.

His family told an inquest that he had drunk similar large quantities of water for at least two days before his death.

The recommended healthy daily amount is three and a half pints, or two litres.

He had overloaded with water

Pathologist Dr Alan Padwell

Mr Thornton, of Bradford, West Yorks, had suffered from gingivitis for 20 years but did not use painkillers. He preferred to numb his mouth with chilled water. He was taken to hospital after collapsing at the home he shared with his mother Alice, 65, and her partner Dave Woodward, 60.

Throughout the day he had constantly filled his glass from a tap and by the afternoon he had become unsteady on his feet.

His mother said doctors initially thought that because he was staggering and slurring his words, he must be drunk.

The retired shop worker said: “He couldn’t walk straight and his right arm had gone limp and was hurting him. But he hadn’t touched any alcohol.”

Doctors gave him an intravenous saline solution but Mr Thornton, who was divorced, died the next day.

The level of sodium in his blood had plummeted.

Pathologist Dr Alan Padwell told the Halifax inquest: “He had overloaded with water. Your body tells you how much you need. Eat and drink normally and your body will regulate itself.”

Bradford deputy coroner Mark Hinchliffe recorded a misadventure verdict. He warned: “We are told to drink more water but it is not well known that you can drink too much.”

Mr Thornton’s mother said: “It was the biggest shock of my life when he died. He was a fit man. He played football regularly and worked putting up racking in warehouses, which kept him in shape. Everyone should be careful of what can happen if you take in too much water.”

Water controls compounds, such as salt, in the blood. Too much overworks the kidneys and blood cells cease to function.