A South Carolina boy almost lost his life on the Fourth of July. Ray Jordan, 10 years old, drank six bottles of water in under an hour after playing with his friends in the sweltering heat. Within an hour of drinking all of the water, it was clear that the boy's life was in danger.
More from Mom.com: Why Should We Wear Light Colors in the Summer?
Ray's parents, Stacy and Jeff Jordan, told WIS TV that their son was playing with his cousins during the holiday evening.
"They were full-throttle running circles around the house, a bunch of boys together, jumping on the trampoline," Stacy explained.
After all of that playing in the heat, Ray started showing signs of heat exhaustion.
Stacy explained that Ray had gone into the house to get water, but they didn't realize how much he got. Between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m., Ray drank six bottles of water. At around 10:30 p.m., Ray started throwing up, which was the first sign that something was wrong.
"He almost seemed like he was on drugs, drunk, even mentally handicapped at that point," the parents explained.
"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," Jeff added.
When they arrived at the hospital, doctors ran tests and discovered that the level of sodium in his blood was extremely low. This occurs when the kidneys can't keep up with the amount of water coming into your body.
"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," Stacy shared.
Doctors gave Ray sodium and potassium to regulate his blood levels, and then the boy miraculously woke up. His parents said that "he asked for food, he was like, Where am I? What happened?"
Thankfully, Ray is fully recovered and in good health. He isn't showing any lingering symptoms of the water intoxication.
"It never would’ve even occurred to us that he was washing everything out, and that it was dangerous," Jeff said.
The Jordans shared that they learned to alternate between water and sports drinks when it's hot because sports drinks have the necessary electrolytes. They hope that other parents will use their story as a lesson to keep an eye on their children's water intake, especially during the summer.
