Intro: The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls is a memoir of Jeannette's childhood and her transition into adulthood. She faces a myriad of hardships throughout, including an alcoholic father, a self-centered mother, having to constantly move and live in old, shackled homes, and learning to get by on her own, before she was even a teenager. The following is a news article based on one of Jeannette's earliest memories. It offers the perspective of others who witnessed this experience firsthand, as it is originally told through the perspective of Jeannette.
The Tucson Post: The Toddler on Fire
By Kyra Balenzano • June 23, 1963
Three-year-old Jeannette Walls was casually cooking hotdogs in her trailer park home this past weekend when her dress that was laying on the stovetop caught on fire. It reached her face and torso before her mother put it out with a wool blanket. Betsy Smith, the Walls’ neighbor who was present during the incident, said she drove Jeannette and her mother immediately to the hospital.
“I was hangin’ up the Sunday laundry when I heard a piercin’ scream come from the trailer next door. I assumed it was just kids playin’ rough, but then her mother came out of the trailer, approached me, explained what happened, and asked for a ride to the hospital. She made it sound like it wasn’t too serious,” she explained, “but that poor little girl couldn’t even walk! She waddled out of the trailer cryin’ and cringin’ with every step and half of her hair was burned off. Poor thing didn’t even have eyebrows or eyelashes! With her in a condition like that, I knew it was an emergency.”
Jeannette is currently recovering at the Tucson Medical Center’s emergency unit, but is to be moved to the Benson Children’s Specialty Center within the next few days in order to provide a more nurturing environment for her recovery.
She suffered third degree burns all over her stomach, ribs, and chest. She has received skin grafts from her upper thigh to help heal these affected areas. In order to ensure proper healing and to prevent infection, approximately half of her body has been covered with antibiotic-coated bandages, to be replaced every few days.
Dr. Wallace Parker was interviewed shortly after performing Jeannette’s skin graft surgery. Dr. Parker is currently the head plastic and reconstructive surgeon at Tucson Medical Center. “This is one of the most serious cases of burns I have witnessed during my time here,” he noted. “Jeannette is very lucky to be alive. Due to the severity of this incident, she will need to stay here for at least two months to fully heal. I will make sure she gets only the best care during her recovery.” By best care, Dr. Parker later specified, he means a nurse on duty just to care “for her and only her”, and daily meetings with a psychologist to discuss her family, friends, hot dogs, and fire.
The city of Tucson has been encouraged to send their well wishes to Jeannette and her family during this long and difficult recovery.
UPDATE – August 4, 1963: It has been reported that Rex Walls, the father of Jeannette, has broken his daughter out of Tucson Medical Center, two weeks before she would have been approved to check out. Best known as the town drunk, Walls allegedly threatened to see his daughter with an empty beer bottle and stumbled through the halls to his daughter’s room.
It was after visiting hours and I wanted to stop him, as he was breaking the rules, but I didn't want him to hurt anyone either," said a nurse on duty who wishes to remain anonymous. "Nothing is worse than angering a drunken man."
Walls then went into Jeannette’s room and shut the door. Workers admitted that no one had followed him into the room nor went in to check on him and Jeannette during this time. They further explained that it was silent for a few minutes, until the door slammed open and Walls came running out, Jeannette in his arms looking frightened. Her IVs had been removed but she was still bandaged up. Hospital security chased him, but he was able to leave through an emergency exit door to escape. Authorities decided not to chase after Walls for unknown reasons.
“Breaking Jeannette out of the hospital prematurely was unnecessary,” commented Tucson Medical Center spokesperson Jane Glen. “Our environment is very accommodating, and if something was bothering her parents, something could have been worked out very easily.” Despite rumors that Jeannette will be ordered back to the hospital to finish recovery, “at this point, Jeannette is far enough along with her recovery that as long as they pay the bills, everything will be okay,” Glen joked.
However, things might not be okay. The Walls’ family reportedly moves “as often as nomads”, as the family themselves has described on numerous occasions, in an attempt to avoid paying bills and taxes. Local bar frequents have commented how Walls always babbles on about “doing the skedaddle” when times get tough financially. The family has done so a handful of times in the past few years; it was not just the alcohol speaking for him. They have been linked to staying in locations all over Arizona and the southwest, including Nevada, California, and New Mexico.
The Tucson Post: The Toddler on Fire
By Kyra Balenzano • June 23, 1963
Three-year-old Jeannette Walls was casually cooking hotdogs in her trailer park home this past weekend when her dress that was laying on the stovetop caught on fire. It reached her face and torso before her mother put it out with a wool blanket. Betsy Smith, the Walls’ neighbor who was present during the incident, said she drove Jeannette and her mother immediately to the hospital.
“I was hangin’ up the Sunday laundry when I heard a piercin’ scream come from the trailer next door. I assumed it was just kids playin’ rough, but then her mother came out of the trailer, approached me, explained what happened, and asked for a ride to the hospital. She made it sound like it wasn’t too serious,” she explained, “but that poor little girl couldn’t even walk! She waddled out of the trailer cryin’ and cringin’ with every step and half of her hair was burned off. Poor thing didn’t even have eyebrows or eyelashes! With her in a condition like that, I knew it was an emergency.”
Jeannette is currently recovering at the Tucson Medical Center’s emergency unit, but is to be moved to the Benson Children’s Specialty Center within the next few days in order to provide a more nurturing environment for her recovery.
She suffered third degree burns all over her stomach, ribs, and chest. She has received skin grafts from her upper thigh to help heal these affected areas. In order to ensure proper healing and to prevent infection, approximately half of her body has been covered with antibiotic-coated bandages, to be replaced every few days.
Dr. Wallace Parker was interviewed shortly after performing Jeannette’s skin graft surgery. Dr. Parker is currently the head plastic and reconstructive surgeon at Tucson Medical Center. “This is one of the most serious cases of burns I have witnessed during my time here,” he noted. “Jeannette is very lucky to be alive. Due to the severity of this incident, she will need to stay here for at least two months to fully heal. I will make sure she gets only the best care during her recovery.” By best care, Dr. Parker later specified, he means a nurse on duty just to care “for her and only her”, and daily meetings with a psychologist to discuss her family, friends, hot dogs, and fire.
The city of Tucson has been encouraged to send their well wishes to Jeannette and her family during this long and difficult recovery.
UPDATE – August 4, 1963: It has been reported that Rex Walls, the father of Jeannette, has broken his daughter out of Tucson Medical Center, two weeks before she would have been approved to check out. Best known as the town drunk, Walls allegedly threatened to see his daughter with an empty beer bottle and stumbled through the halls to his daughter’s room.
It was after visiting hours and I wanted to stop him, as he was breaking the rules, but I didn't want him to hurt anyone either," said a nurse on duty who wishes to remain anonymous. "Nothing is worse than angering a drunken man."
Walls then went into Jeannette’s room and shut the door. Workers admitted that no one had followed him into the room nor went in to check on him and Jeannette during this time. They further explained that it was silent for a few minutes, until the door slammed open and Walls came running out, Jeannette in his arms looking frightened. Her IVs had been removed but she was still bandaged up. Hospital security chased him, but he was able to leave through an emergency exit door to escape. Authorities decided not to chase after Walls for unknown reasons.
“Breaking Jeannette out of the hospital prematurely was unnecessary,” commented Tucson Medical Center spokesperson Jane Glen. “Our environment is very accommodating, and if something was bothering her parents, something could have been worked out very easily.” Despite rumors that Jeannette will be ordered back to the hospital to finish recovery, “at this point, Jeannette is far enough along with her recovery that as long as they pay the bills, everything will be okay,” Glen joked.
However, things might not be okay. The Walls’ family reportedly moves “as often as nomads”, as the family themselves has described on numerous occasions, in an attempt to avoid paying bills and taxes. Local bar frequents have commented how Walls always babbles on about “doing the skedaddle” when times get tough financially. The family has done so a handful of times in the past few years; it was not just the alcohol speaking for him. They have been linked to staying in locations all over Arizona and the southwest, including Nevada, California, and New Mexico.
It is unknown if the family plans to stay or skedaddle this time around, but Glen, after discovering the family’s nomadic and evasive history, stated that the bill has been rushed to their home just to be sure. If the family decides to skedaddle, the hefty bill will have to be paid using the hospital’s dwindling budget. Tucson Medical Center is asking those to keep an eye out on the Walls family to make sure they do what is right, and pay up.
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