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A husband and wife embrace after he was rescued from the mine in Chile. REUTERS

On Oct. 16, 1987, 18-month-old “Baby Jessica” McClure captivated the country when she fell into an abandoned well in Midland, Texas.

It took dozens of rescuers to free the baby from the well, but eventually paramedics were able to squeeze into the narrow passageway and slide Jessica out from the hole 22 feet underground.

The toddler who captivated the nation fell into the well at 9:30 a.m. on a Wednesday when she was playing with two other children in her backyard.

Tension grew when rescuers were not able to immediately retrieve Jessica from the well and she had to spend the night inside the small crevice.

To try and keep the child calm, rescuers talked to her and sang nursery rhymes to her.

Workers had difficulty freeing “Baby Jessica” because of the rock layer that surrounded the well. Eventually a drill that used water pressure to cut through rock was rushed to Midland from Houston.

The “water knife” cut through the rock and cut the digging time drastically for the crew. It was essential to get the child out of the well as fast as possible because her right leg was wedged on the side of her body in the narrow crevice; her foot was almost next to her head.

Doctors were afraid to send down any food of drink to the child in case she choked. As the hours went on, viewers became glued to their television as they feared “Baby Jessica” wouldn’t survive.

But on the third day of Jessica McClure being stuck in the well, crane operators successfully lifted her from the ground.

Jessica McClure Morales is now a 26-year-old married woman with a child of her own, CBS 6 reported.