Rider case unusual, but others have survived at least as long

Tanya Rider is the second area resident in three years to survive without water or food for more than a week, a feat that is unusual but far short of a record.

Laura Hatch, a Redmond High School junior, survived for eight days after a car accident in October 2004.

But in 1979, an Austrian teenager went 18 days without food or attention in a locked jail cell after the police apparently forgot about him following an arrest for a traffic accident. He lost 48 pounds.

"Certainly people can live without food a number of weeks," said Dr. Lisa McIntyre, a general trauma surgeon at Harborview Medical Center who has been treating Rider. "She [Rider] is not the most unusual or exceptional case I have taken care of."

But lack of fluids could start seriously harming the human body well before a week, said Dr. David Townes, an emergency-medicine expert and an associate professor of medicine at the University of Washington.

Going without water for as long as Rider has, Townes says, puts someone at risk for hypovolemic shock, in which the heart lacks enough pressure to pump blood to keep organs alive. The brain and kidneys are particularly sensitive to fluid loss. Kidneys can fail and the brain can start shutting down, leading to mental confusion, seizures and even death.

Rider's kidney "dysfunction is not surprising," given the time she spent trapped in her car, McIntyre said.

But, McIntyre added, Rider's kidney condition would be better had she not had in influx of toxins in her bloodstream from a leg injury. While it is too soon to tell how much kidney damage the 33-year-old Rider has, McIntyre said she might make a full recovery.

"She is young and the extent of her injuries are significant, but not life-threatening," McIntyre said. "She is where I expected someone in her condition to be."

Townes said a person's endurance for lack of water depends on many variables; a healthy, large and well-hydrated person can last longer. Cool weather also helps slow dehydration, although Rider probably faced the risk of hypothermia, Townes said.

A useful hiker's adage, according to Townes, says people under extreme conditions can survive three hours without shelter, three days without water and three weeks without food.

Times staff reporter Jennifer Sullivan

contributed to this report.

Kyung Song: 206-464-2423 or ksong@seattletimes.com