I have often said that Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth and I have a lot in common. The hair, the crazy outfits, the propensity to scream lyrics and be a bit of a diva. And a severe, severe, nut allergy. Okay only one of those things is true – I’ll let you all figure out what’s what.

David was driving along one fine June day and somehow came in contact with a nut. Now as a person who shares this severe and frequently fatal allergy, I can tell you for a fact that most of us are absolute… well nuts… about making sure none of those crunchy little devils are within 100 yards of us. So how a nut product got into his car I can’t imagine. Yet those things always seem to happen. If you can’t have any, somehow it’ll end up being the 33rd ingredient in your shampoo, or a bird will crap on your car, and that bird just happened to eat some walnuts a few minutes earlier, and somehow the fumes waft in through the windows and you can’t breathe… okay this isn’t about me. Not entirely, anyway.

Two Ontario police officers have been credited with saving the life of Van Halen singer David Lee Roth – after he suffered a severe allergic reaction. The rocker was pulled over on a stretch of highway in Oakland, Ontario on June 8 for speeding, and when cops approached the vehicle, they realized the star was in anaphylactic shock.

Roth has an allergy to nuts and was suffering a severe reaction after coming into contact with a contaminated substance. The officers called an ambulance and kept Roth calm until paramedics arrived on the scene, according to CTV.ca.

Constable Chris Thompson admits he didn’t realize that he was dealing with a famous rock star when he attended to the crisis.

He says, “At the time I wasn’t star struck, I was just trying to help him. The guy stuck out like a sore thumb. He was wearing a little silk scarf and flashy clothing – it’s not something you see in Oakland too often.”

[From Canoe]

I wonder if Roth was speeding because he was panicking and was trying to get to the hospital or was speeding on purpose to try to attract attention. Either way, he’s really lucky there were some attentive cops nearby.

People with any kind of allergy that can lead to anaphylaxis (other food allergies, bee stings, etc) are supposed to carry an epi-pen with them at all times. But I can guarantee you that doesn’t happen, because they’re big, cumbersome, and expire after 6 months. David Lee Roth is one lucky dude. Hopefully he figured out what it was that set of his reaction, and lit it on fire or something. Or buried it. Or shot it to the moon. Anything to keep those bastards far away.

Here’s David Lee Roth at the Mercedes-Benz Fall 2008 Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios in Culver City, CA on March 11th. Images thanks to PR Photos.