Yawn of the dead

5:20pm Friday 16th November 2007

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A yawning husband almost died after his mouth got stuck wide open.

Dead tired Ben Shire was making a cup of tea to help keep him awake when a massive yawn took hold and he strained his jaw so much he dislocated it.

The horrified store worker, 34, of Horsham, collapsed in his kitchen unable to breathe or swallow.

His frantic wife dialled 999 as he lay on the floor choking on his saliva and watching his life pass before his eyes.

Paramedics rushed him to hospital with his jaw still locked open where medics brought him back from the brink of death using a suction device.

Doctors battled for four hours with Ben, a father-of-three, to close his gaping mouth.

He said the incident was no laughing matter and he could easily have choked to death.

He told The Argus: "We can laugh about it now, but it wasn't funny at the time.

"I couldn't breathe because I was choking - it felt like two fingers down my throat.

"The more I panicked, the more I struggled for breath."

His wife Sam, a hotel cleaner, added: "I was really panicking and didn't know what to do."

A spokesman for East Surrey Hospital i Redhill, where doctors re-set Ben's jaw, praised the quick-thinking actions of the ambulance crew.

Have you had a bizarre brush with death? Tell us about it at www.theargus.co.uk/news