My eldest sister, 19 at the time, had just come home from work and made some fried eggs and french fries for lunch. She had made the potatoes exactly the way I liked them, very thin and crispy. We sat at the table opposite each other. As was my habit I wedged myself between the back of the chair and the table and started eating rather hungrily and at the same time talking with my sister. I put a couple of fries in my mouth and tried to speak at the same time. I found that I couldn't manage both, so I chose to swallow first forgetting that I hadn't chewed. The moment I did it I realised I had made a terrible mistake. Actually as  terrible as the pain I was feeling cutting through me. It was like I had swallowed a razor blade only slightly less sharp. I tried to bring it back up but it was impossible. I tried to make it go down a bit faster so that the pain wouldn't last too long, but that was impossible too. The potato was taking its own sweet time making sure I was feeling every little millimeter it was cutting through. In the meantime without realising it, I had stopped breathing. I suppose it's a totally natural reaction to pain but I forgot to start breathing again.