Jessica’s Parents Refuse to Sell Story of Her Ordeal in Well

The parents of Jessica McClure said Thursday that they have no plans to turn the child’s 58-hour ordeal in an abandoned water well into a book, movie or magazine story.

Chip and Reba McClure, both 18, told reporters that the National Enquirer offered “hundreds of thousands of dollars” for their story.

But Reba McClure said the family has no interest in selling the story. It has been approached by screenwriters and authors also, she said.

“It’s easy for me to turn down all that money,” she said. “It’s Jessica’s story, and, if she wants to tell it when she gets older, she will. It’s not our story, it’s hers. We’re not interested in exploiting her.”

Jessica’s parents said they are encouraged by her medical progress. She was in stable condition at Midland Memorial Hospital and had three more hyperbaric oxygen treatments to speed healing of her right foot, which lost circulation while she was trapped in the well last week.

McClure said doctors told the couple that it will be three to six months after Jessica leaves the hospital before she can walk normally again. If the foot is amputated--still a possibility--the girl would have to learn to walk with a plastic foot.

Today, the 18-month-old will undergo a surgical procedure to evaluate progress of her foot. Hospital spokeswoman Laurie Johnson said Jessica also faces plastic surgery on her forehead.