A fisherman nearly died last month after he had a fish stuck in his windpipe.

The bizarre accident left the fisherman with speaking difficulties and shortness of breath as he was rushed to the emergency room of a hospital in Beni Suef, Egypt.

When doctors examined him, they noticed a fish was stuck at the entrance to the trachea, leaving just enough space for a little air to get through and prevent the man from suffocating before even reaching the hospital.

The doctors performed an endoscopic surgery and managed to extract the fish, which was still alive, according to El-Ain.

Dr. Ali Al-Hajri, the ear, nose and throat specialist who removed the fish from the patient’s throat, told Egypt’s Channel One television channel that if the man had been brought in only a few minutes later, he would have suffocated.

The operation was a success and apart from some minor bleeding, the patient is fine and should make a full recovery.

On how the fish got there in the first place, the 40-year-old fisherman from the village of Snur, on the banks of the Nile, explained to doctors that he had just caught a small fish when he noticed that the line of another fishing rod was pulling.

In a bid not to let his second catch get away, he quickly put the first fish in his mouth so he could free up his hand.

The live, slippery fish managed to wiggle its way out of the man’s bite and got stuck in his throat.