A FISHERMAN who almost died after swallowing a live Dover sole which he was attempting to KISS for luck has thanked the paramedics who saved his life.

Sam Quilliam went into cardiac arrest after the 14cm long fish leapt down his throat when he jokingly attempted to kiss it - a tradition among some fishermen - before throwing it back.

In a split second the slippery sole shot out of Sam's hands into his mouth, and became lodged in his windpipe.

By the time paramedics arrived at Boscombe Pier to help, the 28-year-old from the Southampton area was already in cardiac arrest. His pals were performing CPR to keep him alive.

Sam was reunited with the paramedics who took over CPR, managed to get his heart beating and eventually removed the fish using forceps.

Speaking before a press pack, after the story attracted worldwide attention, Sam explained: "I was fishing on the end of the pier and I'd caught a little Dover sole. I'd unhooked it, I picked it up and went to give it a kiss before I threw it back.

"Like a bar of soap, it shot out of my hand into my mouth and swam straight down my throat. It was all in a split second. I was choking.

"I ran around the pier like a headless chicken and passed out. The paramedics did an amazing job, they saved my life."

Sam, who told reporters he feels luckier to be alive than if he'd won the lottery, said the the practice of kissing a fish before throwing it back comes from the fishing show, Rex Hunt's Fishing Adventures.

Referring to the incident at the most bizarre in his 17 years on the job, special paramedic Matt Harrison explained how Sam continued to deteriorate in the ambulance.

"We didn't know the size of the fish we were trying to retrieve," said Matt.

"Although his friends were saying 'he's swallowed a fish, he's swallowed a fish'. When you're dealing with an incident like this, looking at the person on the floor, it seems almost unbelievable."

But Matt and his team managed to free the sole from Sam's throat, and he went onto make a full recovery at hospital.

After personally thanking Matt and other paramedics who attended the scene, Sam joked: "The fish went into a bucket, hopefully I won't get stung by the fisheries for taking an undersized fish. It is in a little bowl, covered in blood at the hospital somewhere.

"You just don't expect something like this to happen.

The incident happened on October 5