Police: Pa. trucker saved from choking by crash

[March 31, 2011]  READING, Pa. (AP) -- A Pennsylvania trucker may have saved his own life with an unintentional and very elaborate Heimlich maneuver.

Police say 55-year-old Richard Paylor, of Fairless Hills, Bucks County, was eating an apple as he drove on a busy highway in Reading when he began choking Tuesday morning. Authorities say Paylor then lost consciousness and crashed through a concrete median.

The Reading Eagle reports investigators believe the apple was dislodged when Paylor smacked his chest against the steering wheel. Police recovered a chunk of apple from the dashboard.

Investigators spoke with doctors who backed up their conclusion that the accident dislodged the offending fruit.

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Information from: Reading Eagle, http://www.readingeagle.com/

[Associated Press]

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