At 96, Heimlich finally uses namesake ‘maneuver’ to save someone

CINCINNATI — Dr. Henry Heimlich, the 96-year-old Cincinnati surgeon credited with developing his namesake Heimlich maneuver, says he has used the emergency technique for the first time himself, saving a woman who was choking on food at his senior living center.

Heimlich told The Cincinnati Enquirer he has demonstrated the well-known Heimlich maneuver many times over the years but had never before used it on a person who was choking.

An employee at the Deupree House in Cincinnati where Heimlich lives says the retired chest surgeon was in the room when an 87-year-old woman began choking. The employee says Heimlich dislodged a piece of hamburger from the woman’s airway and that she quickly recovered.

Heimlich says it made him appreciate how wonderful it has been “to be able to save all those lives.”