Baby Jessica turns 25, gains access to trust fund

[William769]

MIDLAND, Texas (AP) — Baby Jessica is all grown up. She's Momma Jessica now.

The toddler who tumbled down an abandoned water well and got trapped more than two decades ago turns 25 on Saturday, a milestone that gives her access to a trust fund of up to $800,000 donated by thousands of sympathetic strangers who spent 2 1/2 days glued to the television until she was free.

Jessica McClure Morales is now a contented stay-at-home mother of two, and her youngest is 18 months old — the same age she was when her accident drew the eyes of the world to this oil-patch city. She lives less than two miles from the site of the 1987 rescue.

"That's all Jessica has ever wanted was to be a mom and have a family," said her father, Lewis "Chip" McClure. "She's a good mom and keeps her eyes on her kids. She's certainly a doting mother."

http://www.centurylink.net/news/read.php?ps=1011&rip_id=%3CD9M6FAK00%40news.ap.org%3E&_LT=HOME_LARSDCCLM_UNEWS

[Brickbat]

1. Eight hundred thousand dollars.

Huh. Guess it pays to leave the caps off abandoned wells!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. She could have died.

The fact that she didn't is a miracle.

I'm sure she's glad to have the money, but I'm also sure she would have preferred to not have fallen down that well.

[Jack_DeLeon]

15. An early reality TV star...

Was she permanently disable from the incident?

There are lots of kids that injure themselves, some very severely when they are young, that survive and live a normal life otherwise. Only they dont get a paycheck for it because they werent on TV.

That being said people are free to give their money away as they please, hopefully she will do something useful with it.

[Horse with no Name]

22. No. She was not permanently disabled nor does she remember the event.

It was a clear cut case of neglect.

[Horse with no Name]

21. Well actually

I worked at the hospital she was in. Her injuries were not life-threatening. Later interviews say that she didn't remember anything of the trauma--which is good.

Her parents did squander some of the money. There was and probably still is a lot of bad blood in Midland over this ordeal. I could tell you stories that would make you angry. However, it is not directed at Jessica. She was just an innocent child in the care of people who probably shouldn't have had children.

That being said--the circumstances of her accident were suspect. On any other given day, there would have been charges filed and the home day care closed down. But, the story captured the nation and the authorities in Midland were a little bit afraid to go down that path--given the amount of sympathy.

I could go into the where's and why's and why not's of this...I still feel the bile rising in my throat to even talk about this case. In any event, I wish the young lady and her family well.

[Inspired]

12. You are kidding, right?

That poor child...it was heart wrenching watching that story unfold in front of our very eyes. It was a miracle she was rescued.

[Raine]

13. Geesh who the hell would want to fall down a well!

I can only imagine the agony her parents went thru and issues that she could have ended up with.

[roguevalley]

18. her kid parents divorced and she had plastic surgery to cover

the scars on her body from the pipe fall. it was the most horrendous thing to know about and watch. Horrendous.

[monmouth]

2. I remember that like it was yesterday. Glued to the TV we all were ...n/t

[William769]

5. Me too.

[tammywammy]

6. I remember it and I was only 7 at the time.

My parents watched the news every evening and encouraged all us kids to watch.

[tammywammy]

4. That's great that her parents put that money into a trust fund n/t

[Celebration]

9. whew, exactly!

There are some parents that would have gone through it.....................

[rug]

7. Well . . . .

good for her.

[Canuckistanian]

8. Jessica, as she looks today...

[PassingFair]

14. Wow, she looks a lot like Angelica Huston.

Here's what the poor baby looked like after the rescue.

[Canuckistanian]

16. I can see the resemblance

But now she's just a Mom trying to live her life. Good for her.

[B2G]

10. LIke. Good for her. n/t

[madmax]

11. Good for her.

A little cushion for when shit happens and she can stay home a raise her chldren. All for it. :hug: to Jessica.

[lostnfound]

17. Think of it as a living monument to human goodwill.

There are worse places for $800,000 to end up.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

20. Brought to you by PLAINTIFF'S LAWYERS.

Who undoubtedly negotiated that settlement. Lawyers are necessary to keep our civil rights intact.

[kas125]

23. It says in the OP that the money was donated by

sympathetic strangers. I don't doubt that it was, those were a couple of harrowing days for many people who were watching. Baby Jessica was a month and a half older than my son and I have to admit that I was one of the people who was riveted to the tv hoping they'd somehow get that baby out of there alive. If I'd had any extra money back then, I'd probably have donated some, too.

[applegrove]

19. That was such a long day. Glad it all worked out for her.

[Bombero1956]

24. some were changed forever by this event and not for the better

McClure’s rescue was credited mostly to paramedic Robert O’Donnell and police officer William Andrew Glasscock Jr., both of whom received tremendous media attention and became heroes. The saddest thing is what happened to these two heroes. In 1995, after eight years of having suffered post-traumatic stress disorder from the ordeal, O’Donnell succumbed to the disorder and committed suicide. In 2004, Glasscock was sentenced to 15 years in prison on charges of sexual exploitation of a child, sexual assault, and improper storage of explosives.

http://lifeisreallybeautiful.com/tag/robert-odonnell/