ROANOKE TIMES

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 31, 1995                   TAG: 9503310088
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B4   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: CULPEPER                                 LENGTH: Medium


BOY SAVES SISTER FROM CHOKING

Twelve-year-old Daniel Timpe didn't think twice when his sister Sarah started turning blue right in front of him.

He quickly turned her around and performed the Heimlich maneuver three times. The third time, the piece of peppermint candy that she had been choking on dislodged and landed on the floor.

Daniel and Sarah, 6, were at their baby sitter's house watching television Tuesday night. Donna Coffey, the sitter, was downstairs taking care of her dog, which was in labor.

Sarah had been playing while she had a peppermint in her mouth, and she fell several times. The last time she fell, she swallowed the candy.

``I was sitting there watching TV, and Sarah started coughing,'' Daniel said. ``At first, I thought that she was faking it, because she likes to fake stuff to get me in trouble.''

``But then she started turning blue and purple and pointed at her throat. So I turned her around and put my hands around her stomach like I had seen on TV. I did it [the Heimlich maneuver] three times, and the third time it came out and she dropped it on the floor.''

Daniel said he saw the Heimlich maneuver several times on the television show ``Rescue 911.''

He said he was a little scared when his sister started choking. But ``I got up and did it,'' he said. He felt ``a little'' like a hero.

Debra Timpe, Sarah and Daniel's mom, said she found out about the incident when she picked the kids up Tuesday evening.

``I'm very proud of my son,'' she said. ``He saved Sarah's life. I always worry about them, because they always fight, fuss and argue. He proved ... how much he does love her.''



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