Parents want only what's best for their children.
The idea of something bad ever happening to their kids is every parent's worse nightmare.
Sadly, sometimes bad things happen to good people.
As much as parents might try to protect their kids from harm's way, they can't completely
shield them from accidents and mishaps.
The unthinkable happened in Midland, Texas, on October 14, 1987, when Jessica McClure
Morales, better known as Baby Jessica, fell into a well in her Aunt's backyard.
Jessica was only 18 months old when she tumbled down into the darkness of that shaft.
It took rescuers, working around the clock, 56 hours to free her from the 8 inch stone
well casing at a depth of 22 feet below ground level.
The story of Baby Jessica's triumphant rescue was broadcast across the nation and was later
adapted into a 1989 made-for-TV film entitled Everybody's Baby: The Rescue of Jessica McClure.
During the rescue, Americans couldn't help but follow the around-the-clock news coverage
as the situation unfolded.
Then-President Ronald Reagan was quoted as saying that 'everybody in America became godmothers
and godfathers' of Jessica while they were glued to their television sets hoping for
the best.
It's been 34 years since Baby Jessica was pulled from that narrow well.
Let's check in with her and see where Jessica's life has taken her in the three-plus decades
since her rescue.
You won't believe what Jessica looks like today!
It's crazy to think that's she the same person that was heard singing the Winnie the Pooh
theme song as rescuers drilled down to save her so many years ago.
But first, let's take a look back at the harrowing incident that captured our hearts and minds.
The Rescue
After falling into the well, firefighters and police from Midland came up with a plan
to drill a shaft parallel to the one Baby Jessica was lodged.
After completing that shaft, they planned to drill yet another horizontal tunnel to
rescue her.
Seeking the help of oil drillers from around the area, officials hoped that they would
be able to free Baby Jessica quickly, but their optimism was put to the test when it
was discovered that the well was encased by rock.
The jackhammers that rescuers had on hand were likewise determined to be inadequate
for the task seeing as how they were designed for downward, not horizontal drilling.
Eventually, a mining engineer arrived at the scene and volunteered his services to help
coordinate the rescue effort using a relatively new technology called waterjet cutting to
cut through the rock surrounding the well shaft.
Even with this piece of tech at their disposal, rescuers began to grow worried as it took
more time than anticipated to make progress.
45 hours after Baby Jessica had fallen into the well, the parallel shaft and horizontal
tunnel were complete.
While drilling, rescuers could hear the distinct sound of Jessica singing her favorite song,
the theme to 'Winnie the Pooh'.
Once they had finished drilling, a roofing contractor by the name of Ron Short, who had
been born without collarbones, volunteered to go down into the shaft since he had the
ability to collapse his shoulders and squeeze his way into tight spaces.
The rescue team considered his offer, but ultimately a paramedic named Robert O'Donnell
was able to squeeze into the tunnel and free Jessica from her lodged position in the well.
When they finally reached her, Jessica had one leg above her forehead, a gash on her
forehead, and an injured foot.
After O'Donnell wrestled her free, he handed Jessica her to a fellow paramedic, who then
carried her up to safety.
Once out of the shaft, that paramedic then handed her off to another paramedic who carried
her to a nearby ambulance that had been on standby waiting for her to emerge.
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And don't go anywhere just yet.
Keep watching to see what Jessica's life has been like since her rescue.
Media Coverage And Aftermath
After being rescued.
Baby Jessica had to have one of her toes amputated due to gangrene that had set in when it lost
circulation while she was trapped in the well.
The gash on her forehead which was caused when her head rubbed against the well wall
healed, but she was left with a scar.
In total, Baby Jessica needed 15 surgeries to tend to her injuries.
Fortunately, however, she was able to make a full recovery.
Despite how dramatic the incident was, Jessica says that she has no memory of it.
On the national level, CNN covered the rescue effort in-depth as it unfolded.
Throughout the whole ordeal, local ABC affiliate KMID-TV, received phone calls from news organizations
and worried citizens from around the world asking for the latest information on the situation.
After she had recovered from her injuries, Jessica and her parents went on Live with
Regis and Kathie Lee to discuss the incident.
In 1988, Photographer Scott Shaw of the Odessa American was awarded with the Pulitzer Prize
for Spot News Photography for this photo of Baby Jessica's rescue.
While Baby Jessica's rescue was certainly miraculous, sadly not everything was 'happily
ever after' for those that were involved in her recovery.
Jessica's parent's divorced citing irreconcilable differences in 1990.
They were just 18-years old when they were suddenly thrust into the spotlight.
After their daughter's rescue, they found themselves overwhelmed by the whirlwind of
publicity that had suddenly become a central part of their lives.
Their divorce was an especially messy one, and the tabloids covered every last bit of
gossip that they could get their hands on.
Fortunately, both of Jessica's parents went on to remarry.
The paramedic that pulled her from the well, Robert O'Donnell sadly committed suicide on
April 27, 1995 at the relatively young age of 37 by shooting himself in the head.
It's thought that he had suffered from severe PTSD in the years following Baby Jessica's
rescue.
Jessica's Life Post-Rescue
Baby Jessica's childhood remained fairly normal despite the media fiasco that she had been
a part of.
It wasn't until she was five years old that she learned what had happened to her when
she was just a baby.
While watching an episode of the series Rescue 911 that covered her rescue, she asked her
stepmother who the little girl was that had fallen down the well.
In 2002, 15-year old Jessica told reporters that the incident 'bored her.
In that interview, she also disclosed that she was living with rheumatoid arthritis.
After graduating from Midland's Greenwood High School in 2004, Jessica McClure went
on to marry the love of her life, Daniel Morales, at the Church of Christ in Notrees, Texas,
on January 28, 2006.
The couple met at a daycare facility where Jessica had worked alongside her sister.
Since then they have been busy raising a family of their own.
Jessica and Daniel welcomed a baby boy into their lives in 2007.
Two years later Jessica gave birth to a healthy baby girl.
When Jessica turned 25 in 2011, she gained access to a trust fund that had been set up
by her parents and was comprised of donations she had received from around the world.
She used some of those funds to buy her home and says that she plans on using the rest
to pay for her children's college tuition.
In 2017, Jessica was interviewed by People magazine.
Reflecting back on her experience getting rescued from that well, she expressed her
belief that God had been on her side that day.
She went on to say that her life was 'a miracle'.
Jessica's life certainly is a bit of miracle.
Alongside her husband and two children, Simon and Sheyenne, Jessica counts her blessings
daily as she works as a special-education teacher's aide at a local elementary school.
Daniel, who prefers to go by Danny, works as a foreman at a pipe supply company.
While some may think that Jessica wound up very wealthy from that trust fund, in reality,
much of the $1.2 million of the trust was wiped out by the economic disaster of 2008.
The remainder, she plans on holding on to make sure that her children have a decent
head start in life.
Jessica's children are now finally old enough to comprehend what she went through back in
'87.
She told the outlet that they've also both Googled images of the scene of the rescue.
The main thing that Jessica says that she hopes her children can learn from her experience
is the importance of always remaining humble.
She also wants them to know that there are still good people out there in the world.
Beyond those two vital life lessons, Jessica merely wants to make sure that her kids don't
feel like they are stuck living in her shadow.