“The Kiss of Life”
The incredible story behind the iconic photo
In July 1967 in Jacksonville, FL, photographer Rocco Morabito was driving along West 26th Street, headed to an assignment. He passed a couple of linemen with the Jacksonville Electric Authority completing routine maintenance on a utility pole. On his way back from his assignment, it crossed his mind to stop and try to get some photos of the workers. As he pulled up where the men were working, he heard screams. Something terrible had happened.
Randall G. Champion was the lineman at the top of the pole. While completing the maintenance, he somehow brushed one of the lines at the top of the utility pole. He was immediately knocked unconscious as the electricity rushed through his body. Luckily, his safety harness prevented his fall, but he was still dangling close to death if someone didn’t act quickly.
That someone was Champion’s partner, J.D. Thompson, who ran from another pole about 400 feet away. Thompson was able to reach Champion within seconds, but there was no way that he could perform CPR with Champion dangling upside down. He also realized that he didn’t have time to loosen Champion from his harness and get him to the ground to perform the life-saving process.
Thompson decided that the only choice at that moment was to try to get air back into the…
