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WARNING - DISTRESSING VIDEO: Bystanders vainly attempted to save 56-year-old Mario Melo by repeatedly smacking the former athlete on the back
This is the harrowing moment horrified onlookers try to save the life of a former champion boxer who collapsed and died during a croissant-eating competition.
Several men surround Argentinian Mario Melo and attempt to dislodge food stuck in his throat after he suffered complications during a croissant eating contest .
Footage taken from the crowd show the men smacking 1990 WBA light-heavyweight world title challenger Mario, 56, on the back to free his airwaves.
Tragically, he died as he choked on his third croissant during Sunday’s competition in the Atlantic coastal resort of Pinamar near the city of Mar del Plata.
An autopsy on Monday confirmed the southpaw, a South American light-heavyweight and heavyweight champion in the eighties and nineties, had choked to death after his windpipe became blocked with dough.