Did You Ever Do The Heimlich?

This short anecdote from the New York Times tells how the writer felt while choking and then being saved when Tom Colicchio did the Heimlich on her.

I once administered the Heimlich. It was over twenty years ago, in my kitchen. I was talking to someone who was over to sell me wine and juice, Otzar Beit Din, from a special stock of grapes grown Shemitta year.

My eldest and youngest children were in the kitchen. The little one, a pre-schooler at the time, was sucking on an ice cube, when my daughter said something. I couldn't understand her words. Then their was a silence, like in a well-directed movie. Frequently during a trauma, we lose our hearing. All of our faculties are concentrated in vision and trying to figure out what to do.

I suddenly understood. I went over to him from the back, put my hands under his ribs, hoping that was under the diaphragm, lifted him, or just put pressure, and suddenly the ice cube flew out of his mouth.