Former Nevada senator owes life to Democratic front-runner Kerry
ASSOCIATED PRESS
lasvegassun.com
LAS VEGAS (AP) - Former U.S. Sen. Chic Hecht of Nevada may be a staunch Republican, but he is grateful for Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. John Kerry.
It was July 12, 1988, when Hecht was attending a weekly Republican luncheon in the Capitol when a piece of apple lodged in his throat. Kerry was just getting off an elevator when he saw Hecht buckled over in the corridor. The Massachusetts Democrat rushed over and performed the Heimlich maneuver.
"This man gave me my life," the 75-year-old Hecht told the Las Vegas Sun in an interview Thursday.
The lifesaving incident made international news, and Dr. Henry Heimlich, who invented the maneuver in 1974, called Hecht to say that if Kerry intervened 30 seconds later, Hecht might have been in a vegetative state for life.
Hecht told the Sun he was amazed Kerry acted so quickly and that some people wrongly assumed he was having a heart attack.
"He knew exactly what to do," Hecht said. "But a lot of people know what to do. They just don't size up the situation immediately."
Hecht was up for re-election that year, and Kerry, who was serving as chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, had pegged Hecht as one of the most vulnerable Republican seats. Hecht wound up losing the race.
"Only in America can this happen, where he's working against me to get me defeated and then saves my life," Hecht said.
Hecht, who prides himself on having one of the most conservative records on the books during his six years in the Senate, said he and his wife, Gail, see politics as a secondary issue when it comes to Kerry.
"We've had a wonderful life, and it would have all been down the tubes," Hecht said.
Each year, the Hechts speak with Kerry, thanking him again for thinking quickly in a Senate hallway that day.
This year, Hecht said Kerry told him his campaign was finally gaining momentum - something Hecht's daughters are excited about. Both have attended Kerry events.
A longtime businessman and banker, Hecht served as President George H.W. Bush's ambassador to the Bahamas. He said he and his wife have each given $2,000 to President Bush's current campaign.
Hecht said he would appear at a Kerry campaign event if he is asked. Kerry has appeared with Jim Rassmann, a Special Forces officer whom Kerry rescued in Vietnam.
But Hecht won't say who he would vote for in November if Kerry wins the Democratic nomination.
"Only the Good Lord and myself will know how I'm going to vote," he said. |
