WRECK DIVERTS MORGAN OAK TRAFFIC

Police diverted traffic from Morgan Oak for more than an hour Sunday afternoon after a one-car accident in which a driver suffered an apparent seizure and his convertible rolled 20 feet into a ditch.

The driver, Earl Heck, was admitted to St. Francis Medical Center for observation.

Linda Heck, 44, and Earl Heck, 37, both of Cape Girardeau, had just stopped the 1966 Dodge convertible at Bi-State Southern at 400 Morgan Oak just after 2 p.m. Sunday. "He said, 'I want some crackers, I feel like I'm going to pass out," said Linda Heck.

He pulled out of the parking lot and attempted a left turn onto Morgan Oak, witnesses said.

Linda Heck said her husband started to choke on the cracker and went rigid, with both legs pressing on the pedals -- one on the accelerator and one on the brake. Then his left foot slipped off the brake.

She said she tried to pull his foot off the accelerator and get the cracker out of his mouth.

The car left a semicircular skid mark leading to the sidewalk just to the east of the bridge over the old railroad tracks. It took out a speed-limit sign, scraped the edge of the concrete barrier and landed on the bank of the ditch. It then rolled once and came to rest overturned at the bottom of the embankment.

An employee at Bi-State called 911.

An ambulance took Earl Heck to St. Frances Medical Center. Doctors found no broken bones or serious injuries, Linda Heck said, but admitted her husband to find out what caused his apparent seizure. She said he had never had a seizure before.

Both wore seat belts.

Police diverted traffic off Morgan Oak between Frederick and Lorimier for more than an hour while a tow truck removed the car from the creek.