--- title: Baby Jessica Rescued from the Well: 30 Years Later description: "The image endures: a grimy paramedic emerging from the rescue shaft cradling a bundle in his arms," TIME wrote of the Oct. 16, 1987, event. canonical: https://time.com/4980689/baby-jessica-30th-anniversary/ author: Olivia B. Waxman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-10-16T14:00:51.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:47:57.964Z article:section: History og:title: Baby Jessica's Rescue from a Well Capped Off a Terrifying Week in U.S. History og:description: "The image endures: a grimy paramedic emerging from the rescue shaft cradling a bundle in his arms" og:url: https://time.com/4980689/baby-jessica-30th-anniversary/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltefcf8e9ca2d28e24/6988e1ce7cdbac6c7fd5a778/miraculous-rescue-baby-jessica-well.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2405 og:image:height: 1353 og:image:alt: miraculous-rescue-baby-jessica-well og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Baby Jessica's Rescue from a Well Capped Off a Terrifying Week in U.S. History twitter:description: "The image endures: a grimy paramedic emerging from the rescue shaft cradling a bundle in his arms" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltefcf8e9ca2d28e24/6988e1ce7cdbac6c7fd5a778/miraculous-rescue-baby-jessica-well.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Baby Jessica's Rescue from a Well Capped Off a Terrifying Week in U.S. History > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription.  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Oct 16, 2017 2:00 PM UTC  Rescuer rushes baby rescued from fall into a well where lay for three days before she was rescued, Oct. 16, 1987. Rescuer rushes baby rescued from fall into a well where lay for three days before she was rescued, Oct. 16, 1987. Bettmann/Getty Images  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Oct 16, 2017 2:00 PM UTC During particularly grim news weeks, [TIME](http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/04/19/10-good-things-that-happened-this-week/) and other news outlets have searched for uplifting stories to put the week in context and offer readers hope. One of those weeks was 30 years ago, when 18-month-old Jessica McClure, nicknamed “Baby Jessica,” fell into a well in Midland, Texas, on Oct. 14, 1987\. She had gotten trapped in a dogleg in the shaft 22 feet below the surface. After emergency responders in the city known for oil drilling dropped a microphone into the well and heard her voice, drilling began to rescue another precious resource. McClure was pulled out of the well 58 hours later on Oct. 16th — three decades ago this Monday — and the good news of her rescue couldn’t have come at a better time. TIME explained why in its [Oct. 26, 1987, issue](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,965834,00.html): --- > “” --- Today, “Baby Jessica” is Jessica McClure Morales, an assistant to a special education teacher at an elementary school in Midland, Texas. [_People_](http://people.com/human-interest/baby-jessica-30-years-later-my-life-is-a-miracle/)_,_ which caught up with her earlier this year, reports that her injuries sustained from the fall are barely noticeable; she has a small scar on her forehead and her right foot is smaller than her left foot because it had to be reconstructed after it became gangrenous while it was “above her head during the entire episode.” [_People_ ](http://people.com/human-interest/baby-jessica-30-years-later-my-life-is-a-miracle/)also reports that, while the 2008 stock market crash wiped out most of the trust fund started from the $1.2 million in donations she received Good Samaritans, there was enough for her and her husband Danny to buy a house, where they’re raising two children of their own. And the lesson of her rescue, as she sees it, applies decades later. “If you look hard enough,” she said, “there are so many good people in this world.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4980689/baby-jessica-30th-anniversary/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4980689/baby-jessica-30th-anniversary/"},"headline":"Baby Jessica's Rescue from a Well Capped Off a Terrifying Week in U.S. History","datePublished":"2017-10-16T14:00:51.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:47:57.964Z","description":"\"The image endures: a grimy paramedic emerging from the rescue shaft cradling a bundle in his arms\"","url":"https://time.com/4980689/baby-jessica-30th-anniversary/","keywords":["People","Newsfeed"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltefcf8e9ca2d28e24/6988e1ce7cdbac6c7fd5a778/miraculous-rescue-baby-jessica-well.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. 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