About this episode

JD Thompson recounts the dramatic rescue of his colleague captured in the Pulitzer Prize-winning photo 'The Kiss of Life'.

In 1967, American lineman JD Thompson was working on overhead power lines in Jacksonville, Florida, when his colleague Randall Champion accidentally grasped a live cable. Seeing his friend dangling high above the ground, JD ran over and climbed the pole to perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. At the same time, local photographer Rocco Morabito just happened to be driving past and captured the moment. The image made that evening’s edition of the Jacksonville Journal with the caption 'The Kiss of Life' and was soon syndicated around the world. The following year, Morabito was awarded the 1968 Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography. JD tells Patrick Kiteley how it felt to be involved in such a dramatic rescue. Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by and curious about the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more. Recent episodes explore everything from how the Excel spreadsheet was developed, the creation of…

People in this episode

Host: Patrick Kiteley

Guest: JD Thompson

Topics covered

• photography
• rescue
• Pulitzer Prize
• history
• personal accounts

Keywords

• Kiss of Life
• Pulitzer Prize
• JD Thompson
• Rocco Morabito
• rescue
• photography
• 1967

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Jacksonville Journal, BBC World Service

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