A U.S. man saved his own life when he crashed his car into a tree as he choked on an onion ring.
Bryan Rocco had blacked out but the force of the collision dislodged the food that was stuck in his throat.
Mr Rocco, 43, from Vineland, New Jersey, was not badly hurt in the crash, reports the Daily Journal.
“I was on my way back to the office and stopped at Burger King and bought a chicken sandwich and onion rings,” he said.
“I started to choke on one of the onion rings and then I guess I just blacked out.”
His company-owned Scion swerved and crossed the road, hit a kerb and then struck a tree.
“Next thing I knew, when I came back to,” he said, “I was on my side, facing the opposite direction.”
The air bag had apparently dislodged the bit of onion ring stuck in his throat.
“The whole thing caught me by surprise,” he said. “I was going out, blacking out and then I’m awake.”
Mr Rocco’s boss, Dan Haer, said he had been emailing pictures of the crashed car to all of his friends.
“Bad news is, he crashed and most likely totaled the company-supplied 2006 Scion XB; good news is he didn’t choke to death on his lunch,” Mr Haer said.