This is the stomach churning moment doctors removed a whole fish that was stuck in a patient's throat.

The Burmese worker, named Hu, 15, caught the perch and held it his teeth while he was fishing in a pond in Krabi, southern Thailand.

However, he accidentally swallowed the creature and it blocked his airways.

Friends tried to pull the fish out but only managed to tear off part of its tail. Hu was then rushed to hospital.

Medics examined his throat and found that there was a climbing perch stuck at the back of his mouth. The notoriously aggressive air-breathing labyrinth fish can live and walk about out of water for up to six days.

Footage shows the doctor removing the 4 inches long tailless fish from the young worker's mouth.

The teenager said he held the fish's head in his mouth but it was still wriggling and slid down his throat.

He said: "I was catching fish with my friend in the pond then after I caught this one, I put it into my mouth because my hands were full with the fishing net.

"While I was concentrating on catching more fish, the one in my mouth slipped down my throat because it was still wet.

"I tried to pick it out by myself but I could only pull its tail out while the rest of the body still stuck in my throat.''

Thoranit Limpakornkul, an ear, nose and throat specialist who helped to remove the fish said that it the teenage was lucky to survive as blocking the air passage is dangerous.

He said: "The patient could have died from asphyxiation if he had not arrived at the hospital in time.

"This is not the fist case that I have to pull a fish out of the patient's mouth so I would like to remind every one who goes fishing, it is better not to keep the fish in their mouth.''

This is the stomach churning moment doctors removed a whole fish that was stuck in a patient's throat.

The Burmese worker, named Hu, 15, caught the perch and held it his teeth while he was fishing in a pond in Krabi, southern Thailand.

However, he accidentally swallowed the creature and it blocked his airways.

Friends tried to pull the fish out but only managed to tear off part of its tail. Hu was then rushed to hospital.

Medics examined his throat and found that there was a climbing perch stuck at the back of his mouth. The notoriously aggressive air-breathing labyrinth fish can live and walk about out of water for up to six days.

Footage shows the doctor removing the 4 inches long tailless fish from the young worker's mouth.

The teenager said he held the fish's head in his mouth but it was still wriggling and slid down his throat.

He said: "I was catching fish with my friend in the pond then after I caught this one, I put it into my mouth because my hands were full with the fishing net.

"While I was concentrating on catching more fish, the one in my mouth slipped down my throat because it was still wet.

"I tried to pick it out by myself but I could only pull its tail out while the rest of the body still stuck in my throat.''

Thoranit Limpakornkul, an ear, nose and throat specialist who helped to remove the fish said that it the teenage was lucky to survive as blocking the air passage is dangerous.

He said: "The patient could have died from asphyxiation if he had not arrived at the hospital in time.

"This is not the fist case that I have to pull a fish out of the patient's mouth so I would like to remind every one who goes fishing, it is better not to keep the fish in their mouth.''