Can you believe that Baby Jessica fell down the well in Texas 21 years ago? Seems like just yesterday.
Here is some info from Wiki
Jessica Morales née
McClure (born
March 26,
1986), became famous at the age of 18 months after falling into a
well in
Midland,
Texas on October 14, 1987. Rescuers worked for 58 hours to free
"Baby Jessica" from the 8-inch-wide hole. The story gained worldwide attention (leading to some criticism as a
media circus), and later became the subject of a 1989
ABC TV movie,
Everybody's Baby: The Rescue of Jessica McClure, starring
Patty Duke and
Beau Bridges.
[1] As presented in the movie, a vital part of the rescue was the use of the then relatively new technology of
waterjet cutting.
The photograph of her being rescued fetched the
1988 Pulitzer Prize for spot news photography to Scott Shaw of the
Odessa American.
Following her rescue on October 16, 1987, surgeons had to amputate part of her right foot due to loss of circulation while in the well. She has had 15 surgeries over the years. She has no first-hand memory of being trapped in the well. McClure graduated from
Greenwood High School, near Midland, in May 2004.
On January 28, 2006, Jessica married Daniel Morales at a Church of Christ in a small rural community outside of Midland. The couple met at a day-care center where Morales’ sister worked with the bride.
[2] Later that year, Jessica delivered a son, Simon.
On May 30, 2007,
USA Today named Jessica one of the "25 lives of indelible impact," ranking her at #22.
[3]
When Jessica turns 25, she stands to receive a
trust fund of donations from "well-wishers," rumored to be in excess of
$1,000,000.
[4]
McClure's rescue was credited mostly to
Robert O'Donnell and
William Andrew Glasscock Jr., both of whom received tremendous media attention. In 1995, O'Donnell
shot himself to death after suffering from
posttraumatic stress disorder. In 2004, Glasscock was sentenced to 15 years in prison on charges of sexual exploitation of a child,
sexual assault, and improper storage of explosives.
[5]