Saving of a toddler who fell into a well in Texas in 1987
Jessica McClure Morales (born March 26, 1986; widely known as "Baby Jessica" in 1987) fell into a well in her aunt's backyard in Midland, Texas, on October 14, 1987, at the age of 18 months.
Over the next 56 hours, rescuers worked to free her from the well casing, about below grade.
The story garnered worldwide attention. A 1989 ABC television movie was made about the events: "".
Rescue.
The incident occurred in Midland, Texas, where firemen and police developed a plan to drill a parallel shaft to the well where Jessica was lodged—and drill another horizontal cross-tunnel to rescue her. Enlisting the help of local oil drillers, officials hoped to free McClure quickly. But they then discovered that the well was surrounded by rock. The rescuers' jackhammers were also inadequate, as they were designed for downward rather than horizontal drilling.
A mining engineer eventually arrived to help supervise and coordinate the rescue effort, and a relatively new technology, waterjet cutting, was ultimately used to cut through the rock.
Forty-five hours after Jessica fell into the well, the adjacent shaft and cross-tunnel were complete. During the drilling, rescuers could hear Jessica singing "Winnie the Pooh."
A roofing contractor, Ron Short, volunteered to go down the shaft. He had been born without collarbones and could collapse his shoulders to work in tight confines. The team considered his offer, but ultimately EMT/paramedic Robert O'Donnell was the one who descended the shaft, inching his way into the tunnel and wresting Jessica free from her position pinned inside the well with one leg above her forehead. O'Donnell then returned with Jessica to the parallel shaft, handing her off to fellow EMT Steve Forbes, who carried her up to safety before giving her to another firefighter who carried her to a waiting ambulance.
Media coverage.
CNN covered the rescue effort.
Then-President Ronald Reagan said, "Everybody in America became godmothers and godfathers of Jessica while this was going on."
Throughout the incident, local media outlet KMID-TV received calls from news organizations and private individuals globally, seeking the latest information.
In 1988, McClure and her parents appeared on "Live with Regis and Kathie Lee" to talk about the incident.
A photograph of McClure's rescue by Scott Shaw of the "Odessa American" received the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography.
ABC made a television movie of the story in 1989, "", starring Beau Bridges and Patty Duke and featuring many participants from the actual rescue as extras.
On May 30, 2007, "USA Today" ranked McClure number 22 on its list of "25 lives of indelible impact".
Aftermath.
Following McClure's rescue on October 16, 1987, doctors feared they would have to amputate Jessica's foot due to damage from loss of blood flow sustained from her leg being elevated above her head for the 58 and a half hours she was stuck in the well. They decided to try hyperbaric therapy in an attempt to avoid full amputation. In the end, surgeons only had to amputate a toe due to gangrene caused by loss of circulation while she was in the well. Jessica carries a scar on her forehead where her head rubbed against the well casing and, despite the incident and 15 subsequent related surgeries, retains no first-hand memory of the events. Her parents divorced in 1990.
Paramedic Robert O'Donnell (August 27, 1957 – April 27, 1995) developed post-traumatic stress disorder after the rescue and later struggled to cope with the abrupt decline in recognition/fame that he had experienced in the immediate aftermath of his heroic act. He died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
In May 2004, McClure graduated from Greenwood High School, in a small community near Midland. On January 28, 2006, she married Daniel Morales at the Church of Christ in Notrees, Texas, about from Midland. They met at a day care center where she worked with his sister. They have two children, a son born in 2007 and a daughter born in 2009.
When McClure turned 25 on March 26, 2011, she received a trust fund, composed of donations from around the world, which she discussed using for her children's college and which she used to purchase her home, less than from the well into which she fell. However, she also indicated that a great deal of the fund was lost in the 2008 stock market crash.
References.
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