Today’s Uncovered Yet Truly Morbid Fact!
Kathy Fiscus
On Friday, April 8, 1949, three-year-old Kathryn Fiscus was playing with her sister and cousin in a field in San Marino, California when she accidentally fell down an abandoned water well. Ironically, Kathy’s father worked for the company that had drilled the well nearly fifty years before, and he had recently testified before the state legislature in favor of a proposition to require abandoned wells to be sealed.
Rescue efforts began immediately and were carried live on KTLA radio and TV; this was a pivotal moment in the still-new medium of television. Ten thousand people came to the site of the accident, and thousands more followed the story at home. Crews from many nearby towns arrived with cranes, bulldozers and drills, and Hollywood studios provided floodlights. It took two days to dig down one hundred feet, and on Sunday night, a doctor was lowered into the shaft. Soon an announcement was made to the gathered crowd: “Kathy is dead and apparently has been dead since she was last heard speaking.” Medical examiners later determined that Kathy had died of lack of oxygen shortly after her fall.
The well, now covered, is in what is now the upper field of San Marino High School. Kathy Fiscus is buried in Bonita, California, and her marker reads, “One little girl who united the world for a moment.”
Culled from: Wikipedia
Submitted by: Aimee
Here’s newsreel footage of the rescue attempt:
[tube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVORS57RMoI[/tube]
So sad when it is a little kid. I just want to thank you for the mfdj each day. Some I have heard of and some are new but always interesting.