CNN Cameraman Seriously Injured While on Assignment

TV NEWSER
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A CNN cameraman is in an Athens, Greece hospital right now after being injured on the job last weekend.

New York-based photojournalist Emmanuel Tambakakis was on the Greek Island of Ikaria last Friday when he slipped and fell 20 feet off a cliff as he was checking some satellite equipment. CNN chartered a plane and transported him to Athens where he arrived unconscious. Scans determined Tambakakis had a skull fracture and significant bleeding and pressure on his brain. About midnight Friday he underwent surgery.

By Saturday, Tambakakis was able to open his eyes and move his limbs on his own. As of today, Emma Tambakakis says her husband's condition continues to improve. "He is completely off all sedatives and his breathing, heart and kidneys are now working on their own," she writes on a forum for news photographers. CNN has put up the Tambakakis family in an apartment near the hospital.

CNN's Dr. Sanja Gupta, who has been on assignment in Mexico City this week reporting on swine flu, has been in contact with the doctors in Greece. A CNN spokesperson tells TVNewser, "The entire CNN family is hoping for a full and speedy recovery."

Tambakakis was on assignment for CNN's Anderson Cooper 360. The story that brought them to the island of Ikaria was about the longevity of the island's residents.