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At 96, Dr. Heimlich Uses Namesake Maneuver For First Time To Save Choking Woman

CINCINNATI (CBSNewYork/AP) — The 96-year-old Cincinnati surgeon credited with developing his namesake Heimlich maneuver recently used the emergency technique for the first time himself to save a woman choking on food at his senior living center.

Dr. Henry Heimlich told The Cincinnati Enquirer in an interview Thursday he has demonstrated the well-known maneuver many times through 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 Patty Ris, and 87-year-old woman, began choking. The employee says Heimlich dislodged a piece of hamburger from the woman's airway and she quickly recovered.

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

Ris thanked Heimlich with a letter, the Enquirer reported.

"God put me in that seat right next to you, Dr. Heimlich,'" Ris said she wrote. "So that you could save my life."

(TM and © Copyright 2016 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2016 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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