last night at supper my wife, helen, started choking. it's a good thing i'm about twice her size, as almost immediately she lost all strength and seemed to go into shock. i manhandled her up and did the heimlich, it took about 4-5 attempts. it was at least an hour until she stopped hacking and coughing and things were back to normal. it really would have ruined the nascar budweiser duel for me !!! many years ago i had to do the same thing with a buddy.