Never take a nap in front of a parked car.

It’s only natural to expect the worst when you hear about a passed out drunk guy getting run over by a car. However, that was definitely not the case for a Japanese rugby player who on early Sunday morning found himself in just such a predicament and walked away with little more than a few scrapes.

According to reports, Takuma Asahara, a 31-year-old who has played for Japan’s national rugby team and currently plays for the Toshiba Blue Lupus rugby team in Japan’s Top League, was drunk and lying on a road in front of a parked car in the Tokyo suburb of Fuchu at about 2:20 a.m. on Sunday morning (Sept. 23) when a man in his 40s got in the car and pulled out, running over the inebriated athlete.

Asahara ended up pinned under the vehicle but thankfully for him a few of the teammates he had been partying with were nearby and sober enough to help him out. These teammates, among which was the 29-year-old Japan national rugby team captain Michael Leitch, went over to their trapped friend and lifted the vehicle off of him. According to statements by Toshiba Brave Lupus, Asahara only suffered light injuries.

The man in his 40s who ran over Asahara was quoted as saying “I felt something weird when I moved the car and when I looked I saw I had run over a person.”

Toshiba Brave Lupus has released a statement apologizing for Asahaya’s actions, saying “These actions caused great trouble to many people including the driver of the vehicle. We will make efforts to not let this happen again.”

The rugby team explained that Asahara and his teammates had played against another Top League rugby team, the Coca-Cola Red Sparks, in Tokyo on the evening of the 22nd. Following that match Asahara and company went out to dinner.

As for the result of the game that preceded Asahara’s night out, it went much as you’d expect given how much the Toshiba guys seemed to be enjoying themselves. Toshiba beat Coca-Cola 29-14.

Source: Asahi Shinbun, Corobuzz, Sports Nippon

Image: Takuma Asahara can be seen on right (Wikipedia commons)