Airbag revives man choking behind wheel in Falmouth

FALMOUTH, Mass. -- Oil tank repairman Richard Silvia was driving down a busy road in Falmouth when he popped some raisins into his mouth. He choked, and then passed out.
“When he blacked out, the truck came across traffic,” said Nancy Ness, a witness.
Teaticket Highway became a scene of crashed up cars Monday afternoon.
Silvia, 53, then smashed into a car, whose driver is still shaken by the accident.
“I see this big truck coming at my car. It was pretty scary,” said Tabbatha Texeira, the crash victim.
She tried to avoid the truck, but her car was totaled.
“He swerved into my lane and crashed into the driver side door of my car,” said Texeira.
After smashing her green Oldsmobile, police say that he sideswiped a white minivan, and then kept going.
“He was coming from over there, and then he came up here and crashed on our lawn and went along here, and took out those signs,” said Cassandra Cann-Ness, a witness. “He crashed right here and that’s when his air bag went off.”
When the airbag deployed, it struck Silvia in the face, dislodging the raisin from his throat and reviving him.
“He was so concerned that no one was hurt. I felt badly for him and he had an abrasion on his wrist,” said Nancy Ness.
And in the end, three cars were mangled but no one was seriously hurt.
“I think it’s absolutely crazy. I think it’s a miracle actually. You know, I think that’s awesome. He’s blessed to be alive,” said Christina DiMaggio, a neighbor of Silvia.
Silvia was ticketed for impeded driving.