A stroll down the Tennessee Riverwalk turned into a difficult morning for a Chattanooga woman.
According to Chattanooga Fire Department spokesman Bruce Garner, a 35-year-old woman, who did not want to be identified, dropped her cell phone as she walked down the boardwalk section with a friend about 10 a.m.
In an effort to retrieve her phone, the woman decided to climb over the handrail and lower herself to the ground, Mr. Garner said. It was about a 10 to 15 foot handrail, so the woman could not reach the ground, he said.
After a few moments of hanging onto the rail by her fingers, she lost her grip and fell a few feet to the ground, Mr. Garner said. She injured an ankle and could not move much on her own, so Hamilton County Park Rangers called the Chattanooga Fire Department.
Mr. Garner said the fire department's Urban Search and Rescue team determined the best way to rescue the woman was to place her in a Stokes rescue basket before using a ladder and ropes to pull her up.
Officials said the Riverwalk was closed during the rescue operation, and the woman was lifted up to the boardwalk about 11:20. After she was handed off to Hamilton County Emergency Services workers, the woman was taken to Erlanger Medical Center for her injured ankle.