Caught on Camera: Gutsy Reporter Passes Out, Continues Interview

The brave reporter says when she woke up and saw the camera pointing at her, she figured she should just keep talking

A television reporter found herself at the center of her own story when she inspired a viral video that captured her passing out during a live report and going ahead with the interview after coming to.

Brooke Graham, a reporter for KUTV in Salt Lake City, Utah, headed to the snow-covered Mountain Dell Golf Course for a story on cross-country skiing over the weekend. After getting out a couple of words to her interviewee, Graham started to slow her speech, fell straight back and plopped onto the ground.

Just a few seconds later, a smiling Graham perked up, laughed and picked up right where she left off.

"OK. Yes, now I’m going to toss it back to you guys, I just slipped and fell, so we’ll have more, but tell people the basics of coming up here ... anybody is welcome," Graham said into her microphone as she sat in the snow.

"Selfie," "Twerk" Top School's Annoying Word List

Despite her announcement that she slipped and fell, Graham actually fainted, and it wasn’t the first time it had happened to her.

"It has only happened a handful of times, maybe two or three times when I went downhill skiing," she told NBC4 Southern California. “I have sensitivity to altitude and cold, and I woke up not feeling well that morning. It was the perfect storm.”

Local

Get Los Angeles's latest local news on crime, entertainment, weather, schools, COVID, cost of living and more. Here's your go-to source for today's LA news.

LeBron James scores 25, D'Angelo Russell ties Lakers 3-pointers record in 136-105 win over Hawks

SpaceX launches Starlink satellites, lighting up the sky in parts of SoCal

When she opened her eyes, she thought for a moment that she had actually fallen. When Graham saw the camera pointing at her, she knew what she had to do.

"I thought I blacked out while I slipped, and I thought, ‘Oh, I guess I’m just down on the ground now, so the camera is still rolling,'" Graham said. "I saw the camera pointed at my face and decided to just keep talking."

New Laws Coming to California in 2014

The interviewee, Richard, a man whom she says acted gracefully, followed Graham’s lead and bent down to answer her questions.

"Yes, everyone is welcome, young and old, you can come up and ski and have a great day here," he replied.

Graham finishes her interview sitting atop her skis, an ear-to-ear smile across her face. The anchors she tossed back to took notice of her gutsy get-up.

"It’s hard work out there. You can fall, just as long as you keep getting back up," they said.

A YouTube video posted by her television station KUTV -- with her permission, of course -- had garnered more than a million views by Tuesday afternoon.

"It’s obviously a situation that takes everyone by surprise, seeing someone just go down like that on TV, so I understand the curiosity," she said. "As for me being the viral video, it’s crazy, but thankfully the Internet is being nice to me."

Graham went straight home to sleep after the interview and said she plans to see a doctor this week.

"I want to figure it out so I can get back on the slopes," she said.

Contact Us