Hiker lost in Tasmania died because he drank too much water

A bushwalker who died after becoming lost while hiking alone in the north of Tasmania probably died from drinking too much water, a coroner has found. Salvation Army officer Jonathan Paul Dent, 30, was found dead on April 19 last year after setting out on a short bushwalk to Foggs Flat on Gunns Plains.

Coroner Michael Brett said Mr Dent made several calls to his wife over the course of the day indicating he was lost. The calls became more and more distressed and ultimately ceased. A search party found him dead, lying face down on the track, the following day.



Mr Brett said a review of the case by a professor of medicine, Anthony Bell, who noted autopsy findings as well as Mr Dent's behaviour on the day he died were consistent with drinking too much water. "I find that the most likely cause of death was exercise related hyponatremia, which itself resulted from excessive consumption of water during the course of the prolonged exertion of the bushwalk," he said.

"It is impossible to determine whether the condition resulted from the circumstances after Mr Dent had become lost and disoriented, or alternatively was in fact the reason why he became lost and disoriented." The coroner said there was a need for greater education on the dangers of drinking too much water, as there was a perception that people exercising should drink as much as possible. He also said Mr Dent's chances of survival might have been better had he not been walking alone.