‘An entire community coming together’: Author shares details of new “Baby Jessica” novel

MIDLAND, Texas (KMID/KPEJ)- Nearly 37 years ago, Jessica McClure was rescued after falling into a well in her aunt’s yard. Baby Jessica, then 18-months-old, spent more than 58 hours in the eight inch well, about 22 feet below the ground, as the community, and the world, held its collective breath, waiting for crews to drill into the rocky land and pull her to safety.

McClure was playing in the yard when she tumbled down the uncapped well. After McClure’s family called 911 for help, firemen and police developed a plan to drill a parallel shaft to the well where she was lodged and drill another horizontal cross-tunnel to rescue her. Rescue crews enlisted the help of local oil drillers, experts at drilling through the land in the area, and hoped to have her free quickly. Then, rescuers discovered that the well was surrounded by rock, and the jackhammers in use were inadequate because they were designed for downward, rather than horizontal drilling.

Eventually, a mining engineer arrived to help coordinate the rescue effort and crews switched to a relatively new technology, waterjet cutting, to get through the rock. During drilling, rescue workers could hear McClure singing “Winnie the Pooh”.

Once the rescue shafts were complete, paramedic Robert O’Donnell was able to inch his way through the tunnel, where he found the toddler pinned inside with one leg above her forehead. Nearly 60 hours after she fell, O’Donnell handed McClure off to a fellow paramedic who carried her up to safety and into a waiting ambulance.

That Friday evening, Midlanders attending a football game said they could hear cheering throughout the Tall City as news of the rescue spread.

McClure was taken to an area hospital, where medical staff worked tirelessly to save her leg, which was damaged from lack of blood flow from being pinned above her head. Despite all the hours trapped in the well, and 15 subsequent surgeries, McClure said in previous reports that she has no memory of the event.

However, the community, and much of the nation, remembers well. So does Lance Lunsford, a San Angelo author who lived in Midland at the time and has since written a book, titled Inside the Well, detailing the rescue, the media response surrounding the rescue efforts, and the aftermath.

Lunsford shared an inside look on the details of the story with the East San Angelo Lions Club.

“Because we go so much more into the story and a lot of what wasn’t really told at the time and it’s been almost 40 years now since this rescue so we go into that the aftermath as well talk about the media response and a lot of the untold or lesser known stories that have kind of fallen into the rumor mill we really suss those out and bring a new light to those,” he said of the novel.

Lunsford was born in Midland and later graduated from San Angelo Central High School.

He said he remembers watching the rescue efforts on television and decided to take a closer look at what really happened and explained that a new media model allowed networks, specifically CNN, to broadcast it live as rescue workers scrambled to save the toddler. But it wasn’t just the media response that prompted such an interest into the rescue, Lunsford said other factors also contributed to the incident’s awareness.

“Take the economics of the time and how difficult the oil industry was and the impact it had on this community. It’s one of the reasons that the elation was so much more heightened when you consider how dark the economic times were not just for the Permian Basin…nationally as well,” he said.

At first, Lunsford said he was hesitant to write the story, but as he began to learn more, he realized the rescue of Jessica McClure was far more intricate than what he thought he knew.

“Realized that this wasn’t a story about a rescue this was actually a story about an entire community coming together when you talk about the number of volunteers that showed up, oil field roughnecks, first responders of course, but then also the entire community showing up letting people stay in their houses nearby letting people use their bathrooms letting reporters and other volunteers use their telephones,” he said.

The book explores themes of a community’s willingness and accountability; these themes emerge as the details of the incident and the aftermath of the rescue are unveiled.

“What we all know and that is that humans are willing to do a lot for each other and come forward to help when and where they can,” Lunsford said. “Themes about leadership and accountability throughout the aftermath is covered by some pretty dark periods for (some) people.”

Despite the triumph of the rescue, it impacted many who were directly involved, including family members, first responders, and reporters. Lunsford sheds light on the downfall of some of the people who contributed to Baby Jessica’s rescue, contrasting the success and failures of the event.

If you’re interested in purchasing Lunsford’s book, you’ll find it online, here .

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