What Ever Happened to Baby Jessica?
Yesterday as the world watched the rescue of the 33 trapped Chilean miners many were reminded of another rescue that captured our hearts, the rescue of Baby Jessica. Eighteen-month-old Jessica McClure was trapped in a well for 59 hours in 1987. Her ordeal captured worldwide attention and was made into a TV movie.
Baby Jessica's parents were teenagers when she fell into the well. They divorced several years later but not before they moved out of the limelight so that their daughter could have a normal life. After that they granted very few interviews.
On the twenty year anniversary of her rescue Jessica granted Today host Matt Lauer an interview. She's had fifteen surgeries to correct injuries that she sustained while trapped in the well. One toe and part of her right foot had to be removed because gangrene set in. She has a slight limp and she has a scar on her forehead that is covered by bangs in the MSNBC photo.
Otherwise Jessica has lived a fairly normal life. At the time of the interview she was married with a son. Money came in from all over after her mishap. Her parents deposited more than $700,000 into a trust fund that she can access when she turns 25. She said she will sign the fund over to her son.
Not all the stories had a happy ending. Robert O'Donnell was the rescue worker who snaked himself down into the well head-first and pulled Jessica to safety. After his fifteen minutes of fame turned into nothing more he slipped into despair and committed suicide in 1995.
Andy Glasscock spent most of the three days in 1987 lying on the ground talking to the baby in the well. As of 2005 he was serving a 20-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to several unrelated sexual offenses along with one charge for improper storage of explosives. Check the source links below for additional information about Jessica McClure and two of her rescuers.
Source
Jessica McClure
Robert O'Donnell
Andy Glasscock
Baby Jessica's parents were teenagers when she fell into the well. They divorced several years later but not before they moved out of the limelight so that their daughter could have a normal life. After that they granted very few interviews.
On the twenty year anniversary of her rescue Jessica granted Today host Matt Lauer an interview. She's had fifteen surgeries to correct injuries that she sustained while trapped in the well. One toe and part of her right foot had to be removed because gangrene set in. She has a slight limp and she has a scar on her forehead that is covered by bangs in the MSNBC photo.
Otherwise Jessica has lived a fairly normal life. At the time of the interview she was married with a son. Money came in from all over after her mishap. Her parents deposited more than $700,000 into a trust fund that she can access when she turns 25. She said she will sign the fund over to her son.
Not all the stories had a happy ending. Robert O'Donnell was the rescue worker who snaked himself down into the well head-first and pulled Jessica to safety. After his fifteen minutes of fame turned into nothing more he slipped into despair and committed suicide in 1995.
Andy Glasscock spent most of the three days in 1987 lying on the ground talking to the baby in the well. As of 2005 he was serving a 20-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to several unrelated sexual offenses along with one charge for improper storage of explosives. Check the source links below for additional information about Jessica McClure and two of her rescuers.
Source
Jessica McClure
Robert O'Donnell
Andy Glasscock
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