Pivijay, Columbia - In Colombia, a 24-year-old man arrived at a hospital with severe respiratory problems. After making a shocking diagnosis, the attending physician needed strong nerves and a steady hand.

The incident took place on January 23 in the Colombian town of Pivijay. According to LADbible, the young man had been fishing at a nearby lake and hoping to bring back a good haul for his family.

After catching his first fish of the day, he took it off the hook and cast the line back into the water – and he immediately got a second bite.

As he was still holding the first fish and didn't want to lose the second catch, he decided to put the live animal in his mouth and bite down lightly, freeing up his other hand.

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But the fish tried to wriggle free and somehow ended up sliding down the man's throat!

He made his way alone to the nearest hospital, but struggled to explain his fishy predicament to the doctors, because he had problems with breathing and speaking.

When doctors took a look at his X-ray, they couldn't believe their eyes. The shocking image showed that their patient was chocking on a whole fish!

Eventually, a seven-inch mojarra was extracted from his esophagus. The species is very popular in Colombia and occasionally enters freshwater areas.

The man was kept under observation for two days after his surreal scare. It's not clear whether the bizarre episode had any serious consequences for his health.

Given that the mojarra ca grow up to 14 inches in length, the young fisherman can consider himself lucky to have only swallowed a smaller speciemen.