Louise Heintschel may be 59 in age but not at heart. Not one to sit on the sidelines of life, she enjoys being busy

and active – gardening, cooking for family and trying new and different things, including riding on motorcycles with friends and whitewater rafting.

It wasn’t an “extreme sport” or a risky endeavor, but a freak accident in her Jerusalem Township home that has changed Louise’s life forever.

On July 9, Louise was at home enjoying the first day of a vacation from work and decided to catch up on a few household tasks that she’d let go, including some laundry.

“I had taken a tablecloth out of the hamper to be laundered and noticed there were some stains on it, so I decided to pre-treat them,” she said.

“I sprayed the stains but the spray was just running off because the tablecloth was dry,” she said. “The washer was filling up so I just put my hand in the stream of water that was filling the machine to get a few drops of water.

“I thought the machine was filling up for the rinse cycle,” she said. “Then I heard a click and in my mind, I was wondering what that click was and that fast, the agitator started to spin – fast.”

Louise had bought the washer and a matching dryer used, and the safety mechanism that prevents the washer from working when the lid is open wasn’t working.

As the agitator began to spin, it caught the tail of the tablecloth that was hanging on Louise’s left arm over the washer and the tablecloth and her arm were pulled in.

In seconds, Louise’s arm was severed above the elbow. 

“It was 10:30 in the morning and I was alone at home at the time,” she said. “I knew there was no reason anyone

would be coming. I knew I had to look.”

Louise was able to turn off the machine, which had jammed, extricate her severed arm, which was still connected by tendons, and make her way to a neighbor’s house to call for help.

“It happened so quickly,” she said. “Amazingly, I didn’t feel a lot of pain, and fortunately, there wasn’t a lot of bleeding, otherwise I might have died.

“You know, those safety features on appliances and other things are there for a reason, and we take them for granted,” she said. “I never dreamed something like this could happen.”

Louise subsequently spent two and a half weeks at the University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor, followed by some time recovering at the home of friends Dollie and Huey Spradlin. She is now learning to manage on her own.  “Though I’m right handed, I was surprised to realize how much I actually used my left hand in my daily life – there are things I just can’t do, like use a curling iron,” she said. “But I’m an active person and I don’t want to be forced to sit here and miss out on life because of what happened.”

Fundraisers set
Louise travels weekly to Ann Arbor and is working with various specialists to monitor her healing and help in the rehabilitation process, which includes months of physical therapy and being fitted for a prosthetic.

Her insurance will cover approximately $7,500 of the cost of the prosthetic arm, not even enough for a basic arm, which can cost $20,000 or more, she said, adding that preliminary cost estimates for an arm that would allow her to resume an active lifestyle range from $50,000 to $94,000.

“The prosthetist makes the recommendation for a device based on individual needs and lifestyles,” she said.

To help defray the costs and help Louise get  a prosthetic, her friends and family have organized a number of fundraisers in the coming weeks. They include:

• Sept. 16: Dinner at BD’s Mongolian Grill at Westfield Franklin Park Mall from 6 to 9 p.m. Tickets are $25 per person for a stir fry dinner with soup, salad, drinks (taxes included) at the popular Hibachi grill location. Organizers are seeking six local celebrity guest grillers to boost interest and ticket sales. Contact Jennifer Kimberlin at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for tickets and more information.

• On Sept. 25 is a benefit concert featuring the reunion of Oregon’s own Ceiling will be held at Yeeha’s Buckin’ Bar and Grill, with a portion of the door admission and raffle proceeds going to help Louise’s cause. Call Holly Heintschel at 419-902-8394 for more information.

• On Oct. 23 a community spaghetti dinner will be held at the Christ Dunberger Post on Pickle Road from 4 to 10 p.m. Dinner is $10, which includes drinks, dessert and snacks. There will also be a reverse raffle, games, silent auction with gift certificates, a signed Archie Griffin football, University of Michigan, Cleveland Cavalier, Toledo Walleye and other tickets up for grabs.

• On Nov. 13, three buses have been booked to go to Greektown Casino for an evening of adult fun. One bus will leave from Oregon, one from West Toledo, and one from Maumee/Waterville at 3 p.m. and return at 10 p.m. Tickets are $40 with $20 voucher being given to each person at Greektown on arrival. Contact Dollie Spradlin at ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) for more information.

Get more information on Facebook by searching “Fund Raiser for Prosthetic arm for Louise Heintschel.”

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed