Dr. Henry Heimlich, 96, has frequently demonstrated his namesake technique since it was introduced in the 1970s — the most famous instance possibly being on late night show host Johnny Carson. While the number of times the retired surgeon has actually had to use the Heimlich maneuver to save someone's life is heavily debated, there's no denying the success he had with it recently.

According to CNN, Heimlich was dining at the Deupree House in Cincinnati, the senior community where he resides, when the woman sitting next to him started to choke. She had all the signs, he said; her lips were puffed out and she wasn’t breathing. So he got into position and performed three stomach compressions just below her ribcage until a piece of hamburger was dislodged from her throat. The woman, who has been identified as 87-year-old Patty Gill Ris, is thankful to be alive today.

"Oh gosh am I lucky that I sat there,” she said. “And God put me right there at that table right next to Dr. Heimlich.”

Before the Heimlich maneuver, PBS reported that "the usual response upon discovering a choking person was to slap him or her on the back." But many doctors thought a slap drove the object downward and lodged it even more tightly in the airway. This inspired Heimlich to come up with an alternative method, PBS said, which involved abomdinal thrusts that helped drive the object upward and out of the victim. The initial recommendation was to "place the thumb side of your fist before the rib cage, just above the belly button, grasp the fist with the other hand and press fist inward and upward." But today, the American Red Cross recommends "using cycles of five back blows and five abdominal thrusts to treat conscious, choking children and adults." Per their own research, the organization found "back blows, abdominal thrusts and chest compressions are equally effective," and the use of more than once method can often be an effective way to save someone from choking to death.

Heimlich said he “felt wonderful” after using his maneuver to help Ris. Seeing her recover quickly made him appreciate the many other lives the technique has been instrumental in saving, too.

Perry Gaines, maître d’ for the Deupree House, told Cincinnati.com, a USA Today affiliate, that everyone was amazed after Heimlich performed the Heimlich maneuver.

“When I saw Dr. Heimlich doing his own maneuver, I knew it was historic,” Gaines said. “At his age, that’s a very physical type of activity. To see him do it is a fascinating thing. The whole dining room, you hear a needle drop.”

Correction: This article originally incorrectly stated how many times Dr. Henry Heimlich has used his own maneuver and details of the method itself. The number remains unknown, due in part to conflicting answers he's given to press; and back slapping can be an effective way to prevent choking when combined with abdominal thrusts and chest compressions.