Silke Jasso
It’s hard to believe that it’s been nearly 30 years since America was captivated by the rescue of Jessica McClure.
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In October 1987, the then 18-month-old found herself trapped in a backyard well where she stayed for nearly 60 hours before she was rescued in Midland TX.
Now 30, Jessica McClure Morales is speaking out about her harrowing survival that captivated a country.
“I had God on my side that day,” she told PEOPLE. “My life is a miracle.”
Americans were glued to their TVs in 1987 as countless paramedics, drilling experts, contractors and rescuers worked to free the little girl. It was previously reported that she was singing “Winnie the Pooh” from the inside of the well. That’s how rescuers knew she was still alive as they worked to free her.
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McClure Morales keeps a low profile these days and is raising two kids, Simon, 9, and Sheyenne, 7, with her husband, Danny. She reportedly works as a special-education teacher’s aide at a nearby elementary school. She is reminded daily of the incident 30 years ago and has physical side effects after going that many hours without food or water.
Her right foot is smaller than her left because it had to be reconstructed after it became gangrenous from being over her head during the entire ordeal. She also has a minor scar on her forehead that she sustained after falling asleep in the well and the rescuers tried to use a drill to get her free.
After the incident, a trust fund was set up by onlookers who watched her survival but McClure Morales said much of the $1.2 million of donations was lost in the stock market dive in 2008. She was able to use some of the funds to buy a house with a large backyard for her children.
“I think it’s amazing that people would come together like that to donate money to a child that was not theirs,” she said. “I appreciate everything they did.”
