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The reason for rooftop rescue by the Newton Fire Department in downtown Newton on Sunday has been revealed. Marilyn Terlouw, who owns Kitchen Concepts and lives in the apartment above the business, said an accident while working on an art project caused injuries that left her stranded on top of the building.
“Randy Terlouw and I were on the highest roof of our building taking photos for an art project,” Terlouw said. “When I stepped over one partial wall to the next roof, it was lower than I anticipated and I fell on my right side spraining my ankle and breaking my elbow and dislocating it.”
The only way to get Terlouw down safely was using the ladder truck and lifting her in a stretcher to the ground. Once on the ground, Terlouw was taken by ambulance to Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines to receive treatment.
One bright spot from the incident was the NFD had recently practiced using the equipment needed for the rescue and according to Terlouw was “a little excited to put into action.”