Aftermath
Jessica didn’t escape her ordeal entirely unharmed. One of her toes had seen its circulation cut off and had to be amputated as gangrene had set in. She also cut her head and developed a scar from this wound, as well as having to undergo several surgeries in the years that followed.
Mother – Reba ‘Cissy’ McClure. (Photo by Barbara Laing / Liaison Agency)
As she was so young, Jessica has no memory of what happened. Sadly, her mom and dad decided to get a divorce a few years after the incident, and the paramedic who rescued her, Robert O’Donnell, had posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), eventually committing suicide in 1995. Jessica and her parents got to visit the White House and were interviewed on TV, with a photo of Jessica’s rescue even winning a Pulitzer Prize in 1988.