Authorities killed a snake after the creature wrapped itself around a 28-year-old man’s neck on Wednesday in Pennsylvania.
Upper Macungie Township Police Department officers were dispatched to a residence on Church Street about a man going into cardiac arrest, Fox 29 reported.
Cardiac arrest happens when a person’s heart suddenly stops beating, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.
“The lack of blood flow to the brain and other organs can cause a person to lose consciousness, become disabled or die if not treated immediately,” the website said.
At the scene, the officers discovered the man lying on the floor with the snake coiled around his neck.
“I’ve been doing this job for 19 years and this is the first time I’ve seen anything like this,” Lieutenant Peter Nickischer commented.
However, an officer was able to shoot the snake in its head, enabling first responders to drag the man to safety, according to law enforcement.
“Had [the officer] not done that, I don’t know how they would’ve released the male from the grasp of the snake, honestly,” Nickischer added.
Video footage from 2013 showed a man demonstrating being strangled by a boa constrictor.
“You can see, quite a lot of the snake’s bulk is going straight around my neck,” he said.
“Around here is where my windpipe is, where air comes in and out of my lungs, and also where the arteries are that carry blood to my brain,” he continued while holding the snake’s head:
When he exhaled, he said the snake was “very subtly” increasing its pressure on his throat, which made it harder for him to breathe properly.
Per the Fox 29 report, the man was given emergency medical treatment, then taken to a hospital. However, his condition was not immediately known.
“Authorities said the snake was the man’s pet and several other snake enclosures were found inside the home,” the outlet continued, but did not specify what kind of snake it was.