Eyes that see the good in things

Occasionally, I find myself thinking about Baby Jessica and I wonder what became of her. If you were an adult at the time, you'll remember the Baby Jessica story. I think I was so emotionally tied to it because I had a daughter who was about the same age. I also operated a home daycare at the time. I couldn't imagine the pain that either the parents or the daycare provider were experiencing.

Yesterday, I decided to do a little research and thought I'd share my findings with you. I discovered it's been 30 years since the Baby Jessica story occurred and because of the anniversary, she was interviewed by writers from both People and Good Housekeeping to catch up on her story.

If you aren't old enough to remember the story, Baby Jessica McLure was 18-months old when she was playing with other children in the backyard of a daycare owned by her aunt in Midland, Texas. Her mother was watching over them when she went inside to answer a phone call. She rushed outside when the other children started screaming, and found Baby Jessica had slipped down a well. It was only eight inches in diameter, but turned out to be 22-feet deep.

Not only was the well that she was trapped in so deep and narrow, it also turned out she was trapped under solid rock. CNN was new to the news world at the time, and provided on the scene coverage of the ordeal. The entire nation waited, as rescue teams worked to save Baby Jessica. The nation watched what many termed their worst nightmare, as news reporters slowly lost hope that she would be rescued in time. Baby Jessica remained trapped in the well for almost 60 hours before she was miraculously brought out alive.

Baby Jessica's rescue proved to be much more difficult than was first anticipated. Within hours of beginning the emergency procedure, the Midland Fire and Police Departments devised a plan that involved drilling another shaft parallel to the well and then drilling a tunnel at a right angle across to it. Enlisting the help of a variety of local oil-drillers, the Midland officials had hoped to free her in minutes.

However, the first workers to arrive on the scene found their tools were hardly adequate to get through the hard rock around the well. It took about six hours to drill the shaft and longer to drill the tunnel, because the jackhammers used were designed for drilling downward, rather than sideways. A mining engineer eventually arrived to help supervise and coordinate the rescue effort. In reading this story, I couldn't help but wonder if the new technology that allowed oil drilling in the Bakken oil fields of North Dakota and the sideways drilling that is used here, would have made the rescue happen much faster.

Throughout the incident, the switchboard of local media outlet KMID-TV was flooded with telephone calls from news organizations and private individuals around the world, seeking the latest information on rescue efforts. In some cases, they shared their own insight into this and similar incidents. People also sent monetary donations that totaled almost a million dollars. That money was put into a trust fund for her to receive when she turned 25. Although the downward turn of the market in 2008 reduced the amount of money in the trust fund, she used part of the trust fund to purchase the family home. Her father told People that she was also funding education accounts for her children to be able to attend college.

In 1988, McClure and her parents appeared on "Live with Regis and Kathie Lee" to talk about the incident. The story gained worldwide attention, and later became the subject of a 1989 ABC television movie Everybody's Baby: The Rescue of Jessica McClure. While millions of viewers remember the story, she herself has no memory of being trapped in the well and didn't even learn about what happened to her until she watched it on an television episode of "Rescue 911" when she was about five years old. In tears and worried about the poor little girl in the well, she asked her stepmother about the girl in the story and was then told that the little baby in the well was her.

She now has few visible signs of the ordeal that occurred three decades ago, during which she went without food or water. Her right foot, which is noticeably smaller than her left, had to be reconstructed as it developed gangrene because it was above her head the entire time. The only other physical effect is a barely visible scar on her forehead from when she fell asleep in the well.

Now 30 years later, Jessica McClure Morales understands why so many people across the country became invested in her survival in October of 1987. Today, she lives a quiet life, still in Midland, Texas, where people occasionally call her "Baby Jessica." She is a special-education teacher's aide at the local elementary school. She has two kids, Simon and Sheyenne. She is grateful to the people that supported her – and to God.

"I think it's amazing that people would come together like that for a child who was not theirs. I appreciate everything they did." she told People. "I had God on my side that day. My life is a miracle."

"Her own children are old enough now to understand what happened to her and have searched the internet to watch the amazing rescue," the article stated. "Jessica says the lesson she hopes her children learn from her rescue is 'to always be humble. And to remember that if you look hard enough, there are so many good people in this world.'"

We would love to share local stories about the good things your eyes are seeing.

Stop in to share your stories with us, give us a call at 947-2417 or e-mail us at [email protected]. Or send a letter to Eyes That See the Good in Things, c/o Allison Lindgren, The Transcript, 6 8th St N., New Rockford, ND 58356.