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Heimlich, who in
multiple national television appearances had demonstrated the
technique commonly known as the "Heimlich Maneuver" to dislodge
food from an airway, had never employed it in an emergency, said
spokesman Ken Paley.
But on Monday, Heimlich was sitting at a communal dining table
at Cincinnati's Deupree House, an upscale senior living center
where he lives, and noticed fellow resident Patty Ris, 87, in
distress while eating an open-faced hamburger.
He dashed out of his seat, put his arms around her and pressed
on her abdomen below the rib cage, following his own
instructions, which are displayed on posters required to be
displayed in most restaurants in the United States, although
some laws have been discontinued.
"After three compressions, this piece of meat came out, and she
just started breathing, her whole face changed," Heimlich said
in a video interview shared by Paley, vice president of
marketing for Episcopal Retirement Services, which operates
Deupree House.
"I sort of felt wonderful about it, just having saved that
girl," Heimlich said.
"I knew it was working all over the world. I just felt a
satisfaction," said Heimlich, who has lived in the 120-apartment
complex for six years and swims regularly for exercise.
Ris said she randomly selected the seat in the dining room on
Monday because she is a new resident at Deupree.
"When I wrote my 'thank you' note to him for saving my life, I
said, 'God put me in that seat next to you, Dr. Heimlich,
because I was gone, I couldn't breathe at all,'" Ris said in
another video interview shared by Paley.
(Reporting by Barbara Goldberg in New York; Editing by Jonathan
Oatis)
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