Cecelia Cichan

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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 DC-9 carrying Northwest Airlines Flight 255, which occurred during the takeoff phase from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport for its flight to Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, Arizona, with an onward flight to Santa Ana, California.

A popular myth has her mother, Paula Cichan, credited with saving Cecelia's life. It was commonly believed that she 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.

Cecelia Cichan was sent to live with relatives in Birmingham, Alabama, in the aftermath of the crash, who took precautions to ensure that she was not constantly hounded by the media. She is now a devout Catholic, and she graduated from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama in the spring of 2006 with a bachelor's degree in psychology.

After a five year engagement, she got married on July 1, 2006 to Ben Crocker. ^{[citation needed]} She avoids reporters and does not give interviews. As a result, little else is known about her life since the crash.