(Ames, IA) -- A woman's safe after being rescued from a narrow ledge next to an Ames railroad bridge. Police were called by the Union Pacific Railroad around 1:30 this (Thursday) morning, about a woman who appeared to be grasping on a railing from a bridge. Officers arrived and found a distraught woman on a narrow, outer ledge of the Dayton Avenue bridge.
Sergeant Joel Congdon says officers were able to squeeze their hands under fencing to prevent the woman from falling to the railroad tracks below. It's estimated they held onto her for approximately 40-minutes before an Ames Fire Department ladder truck was able to use an access road to reach the area. The crew then raised the ladder and officers used a harness to secure the woman and bring her to safety. The woman, whose name has not been released, was taken to Mary Greeley Medical Center in Ames to be checked out.
(Photos from Ames, IA Police Department)