5latt

The Kiss of Life - A utility worker giving mouth-to-mouth to co-worker after he contacted a low voltage wire, 1967

brite-eyed

Taken in 1967 by Rocco Morabito, this photo called “The Kiss of Life” shows a utility worker named J.D. Thompson giving mouth-to-mouth to co-worker Randall G. Champion after he went unconscious following contact with a low voltage line. Thompson over 400 feet away recognized the critical situation and ran to the pole and scaled it to reach Champion. Realizing champion wasn’t breathing he delivered CPR and chest compression while supporting his friend; super impressive /difficult given the angle (if you get it wrong air goes into the stomach and inflates that instead).

This all happened oddly in Champions work anniversary. And weirder Rocco Morabito, a newspaper photographer who had been covering a strike down the road with eastern freight (this happened in Florida btw) happened to be nearby with his camera in a time that no one carried cameras daily. This photo won him the Pulitzer Prize for journalism photography.