Cecelia Cichan

Cecelia Marie Cichan (born April 10, 1983, now known as Cecelia Marie Cichan-Lumpkin) is best known as the 4-year-old girl who was the only survivor of the August 16, 1987 crash of a McDonnell-Douglas MD-82 operating as Northwest Airlines Flight 255. The aircraft crashed during takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport. It was bound for Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, Arizona, with an onward flight to Santa Ana, California.
At the time of the crash, Cecelia was living in Tempe, Arizona with her mother, Paula, father, Michael, and her 6 year old brother David. They were visiting relatives in the Philadelphia area and ended up on Flight 255 after a layover in Detroit.
A popular, but untrue, story credited her mother, Paula Cichan, with saving Cecelia's life. Supposedly Paula Cichan wrapped herself around the seat that her daughter occupied, protecting Cecelia from the post-crash fire. However, Cecelia was located by rescue workers in her seat - several feet away from her mother's body. Paula Cichan died in the crash, along with Cecelia's father, Michael Cichan, and her 6-year-old brother, David Cichan.
After the crash Cecelia Cichan lived with relatives in Birmingham, Alabama, who shielded her from public attention. She graduated from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama in the spring of 2006 with a bachelor's degree in psychology.

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