"Baby Jessica" McClure turns 25
Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 10:26 pm
In 1987 an 18-month-old girl named Jessica McClure fell into an abandoned well near Midland and was stuck 22 feet below the surface.
The intense 3-day effort to free her became one of the earlier 24-hour media circuses that are now routine.
(I use the term "media circus" to describe the ridiculous, overheated media attention, not to denigrate her plight or the rescue effort.)
The young lady is now married and the mother of two young children. She lives quietly in Midland.
On Saturday she will turn 25 and become fully entitled to an $800,000 trust fund that contains the contributions of well-wishers during and after her ordeal.
http://www.startribune.com/nation/118670269.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
A sad footnote to this episode is that Robert O'Donnel, the man who pulled "Baby Jessica" out of the hole, saw his life spiral out of control until he killed himself in 1995—IMO a sobering reminder that becoming famous is not all it's cracked up to be.
http://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/23/magaz ... curve.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.texnews.com/texas97/jess101497.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
- Jim
The intense 3-day effort to free her became one of the earlier 24-hour media circuses that are now routine.
(I use the term "media circus" to describe the ridiculous, overheated media attention, not to denigrate her plight or the rescue effort.)
The young lady is now married and the mother of two young children. She lives quietly in Midland.
On Saturday she will turn 25 and become fully entitled to an $800,000 trust fund that contains the contributions of well-wishers during and after her ordeal.
http://www.startribune.com/nation/118670269.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
A sad footnote to this episode is that Robert O'Donnel, the man who pulled "Baby Jessica" out of the hole, saw his life spiral out of control until he killed himself in 1995—IMO a sobering reminder that becoming famous is not all it's cracked up to be.
http://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/23/magaz ... curve.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.texnews.com/texas97/jess101497.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
- Jim