Henry Heimlich, anti-choking crusader, dies

The Cincinnati surgeon whose name has become synonymous with saving people who are choking has died. Henry Heimlich was 96. Heimlich invented the maneuver in 1972, when he realized an upward thrust to a victim’s abdomen would expel air from the lungs and dislodge anything blocking the windpipe. He worked with a team of researchers at Jewish Hospital in Cincinnati to find a way to save the thousands of people who died every year from choking. Public health authorities, airlines, and restaurant associations quickly adopted the method, and Heimlich became a household name. This year, Heimlich used his invention to save a choking woman at the senior center where they both lived. Some of Heimlich’s other work created controversy, particularly his claim that injecting HIV patients with a treatable form of Malaria could help trigger an immune response against the deadly virus.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.