The #Kiss of Life – by Rocco Morabito, 1967 – Be ▲rtist

The #Kiss of Life – by Rocco Morabito, 1967

This dramatic photograph was taken by photographer Rocco Morabito and it won a Pulitzer Price in 1968. It was tagged “Kiss of Life” by a Jacksonville Journal copy editor, appeared in newspapers around the world in 1967. The photo showed an apprentice electrical lineman, R.G. Champion, who had come into contact with a 4,160-volt line, being resuscitated by a fellow lineman, J.D. Thompson, as he dangled from the top of the pole. Champion lived through the ordeal and died of heart failure in 2002. Thompson is still living.

Morabito took his famous photo when he was returning from covering a railroad strike. He used his car radio to tell the paper to call an ambulance, and after he got the shot he radioed again to tell the paper, which was nearing its deadline: “You may want to wait for this. I think I’ve got a pretty good one.”