A Minnesota woman was overjoyed when wastewater treatment workers found a ring that she’d accidentally flushed 13 years ago.
Mary Strand, 71, received the gold and diamond piece as a 33rd-anniversary gift from her husband, according to The Independent. A few months later, she watched it disappear down the toilet as she flushed.
“I am standing there washing my hands and I reached over and I flushed it and I am watching this ring swirl around,” she recounted. “I dove for the ring and it went down the drain.”
Her husband, who happens to have a drain-cleaning business, attempted to find the ring to no avail.
“We put a camera down the line, a sewer camera, it goes 200 feet down the line, and we didn’t see anything,” he explained.
13 years later, the Rogers Wastewater Treatment Plant crew discovered the valuable piece while working on a piece of machinery. The Twin Cities’ Metropolitan Council reports that Maintenance Manager John Tierney reached out to the public in order to find its owner. Mary’s daughter saw the ring on television and immediately contacted her mother.
“My daughter called me and she said, ‘Mom, you’re never going to believe this, but I just saw Frank Vascellaro do a story about your ring,'” Mary recalled.
Hundreds of people responded to the Met Council claiming to own the ring, but jeweler Paul Hartquist was able to identify it as Strand’s by matching it up to a photo.
On May 8, Mary was able to view the ring in person.
“This is my ring,” she said. “It’s nice to see it again.”
Unfortunately, the ring is no longer wearable, due to its extensive time in the sewer system. However, Mary is still thankful to be reunited with the piece, which she plans to have reset.
“I never, ever, ever thought that I would see this ring again,” she said.
You can watch Mary identify her ring in this heartwarming video below from the Metropolitan Council, and don’t forget to share Mary’s joy!
You can find the source of this story’s featured image here.
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