Water Intoxication Nearly Kills Metro Detroit Teen

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (WJBK) - A local teenager was rushed to the hospital and nearly died from water intoxication. DeJuan Garrett says he did it because he coach told him to do so.

The 15-year-old wrestler is a sophomore at Southfield Lathrup High School. Garrett has been wrestling since the age of eight. His mother is proud and says her son is a natural.

"That's something that he excelled in and did very well," said Felica Cheeks, his mother, who added that last year he was Southfield Lathrup's district champ.

There have never been any problems with his wrestling program until Thursday at practice. Cheeks got a phone call that Garrett fainted.

"When I got to the hospital, I was told that my son was in critical condition," Cheeks said. "I couldn't understand how from fainting you ended up on a respirator."

"His brain swelled. He had a seizure and then was non-responsive to stimuli. Basically, within an hour and a half time if it's not treated you die," she added. "His father tried to reassure me our son was fine, but his coach told me and I quote, "Mom, all I did was give him water at practice."

Water -- it does not seem like anything would be wrong with that.

"Not once the whole time that we sat there did he tell me that my son consumed eleven, twelve-ounce bottles of water," said Cheeks. "The doctor explained (to) me that he was suffering from water intoxication, that he had (drunk) too much water."

In just two hours, she says, and her son weighs less than 100 pounds.

"The proper way to hydrate them is over time," Cheeks said. "He was not exercising. He was not practicing. The only thing that he was doing during that two hour practice was drinking water."

"My legs started hurting and then I couldn't feel them. Then I feel to my knees (and) then I fell down. Then I threw up and I couldn't see," said Garrett. "It was scary."

Garrett is okay now and still has the utmost respect for his coach. One of his teammates seems to understand why.

"It was unfortunate," he said. "I think coach wanted the best for the child."

"He's like the second best coach I ever had. He helped me. If it wasn't (for) him, I never (would have) won district last year," Garrett said.

"I understand that coach didn't intentionally try to bring any harm to my son, but knowledge is something that every coach should have if you're going to be dealing with kids and their health because that's ultimately what you're doing. I don't want this to happen to somebody else's child," said Cheeks.

We put calls into the Southfield School District, but have not heard anything back yet. We also went to the school board meeting Tuesday night to see if any board member had anything to say. They did not even know about it.