96-year-old Dr Henry Heimlich has used his own manoeuvre for the first time - and saved a woman's life

He invented the emergency technique in the 1970s

Dr Henry Heimlich pictured at age 80 Rex Features (Rex)

The doctor best known for inventing the revolutionary manoeuvre to save somebody from choking, Dr Henry Heimlich, was finally able to apply his methods in a real-life situation - at the age of 96.

According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, the famous surgeon came to the aid of 87-year-old Patty Ris as a piece of hamburger became lodged in her airway. Ms Ris had luckily been sitting next to Dr Heimlich in the dining room of the Deupree House senior living facility.

Despite the fact that he invented the aptly named Heimlich Manoeuvre in the 1970s, and has demonstrated it countless times since, this was the first real time application of the technique by the doctor.

“When I used it, and she recovered quickly,” he said, “it made me appreciate how wonderful it has been to be able to save all those lives.”

Normally, staff of the facility are required to perform these life-saving methods in the event a resident chose. “But,” a dining room staff member told the Enquirer, “it is Dr Heimlich.”

Ms Ris said that after Dr Heimlich rose to the occasion and saved her, she wrote him a note thanking him for his actions.

It read: “God put me in this seat next to you."