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N0KFQ > TODAY 16.10.14 15:53l 55 Lines 2409 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 38186_N0KFQ
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Subj: Today in History - Oct 16
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Sent: 141016/1341Z 38186@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQK1.4.60
Oct 16, 1987:
Baby Jessica rescued from a well as the world watches
On this day in 1987, in an event that had viewers around the
world glued to their televisions, 18-month-old Jessica McClure is
rescued after being trapped for 58 hours in an abandoned water
well in Midland, Texas.
The drama unfolded on the morning of October 14, 1987, when
McClure fell through the 8-inch-wide opening of an abandoned well
while playing with other children in the backyard of her aunt's
home day-care center. After dropping about 22 feet into the well,
the little girl became stuck. Over the next two-and-a-half days,
crews of rescue workers, mining experts and local volunteers
labored around the clock to drill a shaft parallel to the one in
which McClure was trapped. They then tunneled horizontally
through dense rock to connect the two shafts. A microphone was
lowered into the well to keep tabs on the toddler, who could be
heard crying, humming and singing throughout the ordeal.
On the night of October 16, a bandaged and dirt-covered but alert
Baby Jessica, as she became widely known, was safely pulled out
of the well by paramedics. By that time, scores of journalists
had descended on Midland, a West Texas oil city, and the rescue
was carried out on live television before a massive audience.
After her rescue, McClure was hospitalized for more than a month
and lost a toe to gangrene. She and her family were flooded with
gifts and cards from well-wishers, and received a visit from Vice
President George H.W. Bush and a phone call from President Ronald
Reagan. Once out of the hospital, McClure went on to lead a
normal life, spent largely out of the public spotlight. She
graduated from high school in 2004, married two years later and
became a mother. In 2011, at age 25, she gained access to a trust
fund_reportedly worth at least $800,000_that was established
following her rescue and made up of donations from people around
the world.
Life proved more challenging for others involved in the Baby
Jessica saga. McClure's parents divorced several years after her
accident, rescue workers in Midland feuded over a potential
Hollywood movie deal and in 1995, a paramedic who played a key
role in helping to save McClure committed suicide, possibly as a
result of post-traumatic stress disorder.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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