pensioner alan spencer 's life was saved by his 18-month old labrador lexi .
the 67-year-old began choking on pickled onion and felt life ` slipping away '
but lexi jumped on his back - dislodging the onion and saving his life .
an earlier version of this article stated that lexi the labrador had saved mr spencer 's live by performing the heimlich manoeuvre . in fact , the dog jumped on his back to clear the blockage . heimlich involves applying sudden , strong pressure on the abdomen , which was not the case in this instance . we are happy to clarify this .