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Flushed Wedding Ring Found In Sewage By City Workers, Owner Was ‘Shocked And Speechless’

By Glenn Hadley
Published on: 15:04 PST, Jun 19, 2016

The chances of a flushed wedding ring being found are very slim.

If an item (such as a wedding ring) falls down a sink drain, there is a chance that you can retrieve it from the attached pipe. However, what happens if the ring is flushed down the toilet?

That is exactly what happened to Ryan and Anna Cornish. The couple’s 4-year-old son, Landon, flushed his mother’s diamond wedding ring down the toilet in May, according to the Seattle Times. The Cornish family figured that the ring was a lost cause, assuming that they would never see the ring again. Their worst fears were also confirmed by a plumber that was called to their home on the night of the infamous flush.

Thirty-eight-year-old Ryan Cornish apparently did not want to write it off as a lost cause and irreparable tragedy in his marriage.

The thought of buying a replacement ring for his wife apparently crossed his mind. However, he was reportedly reluctant in rushing to make that decision. To purchase the flushed wedding ring, Ryan had saved up for over two years after having lost a previous ring to theft.

According to the report, the ring also had sentimental value for the Cornish family since they wanted to eventually pass it down to their daughter who is now 3-years-old.

Instead of working hard to move on and forget about the flushed wedding ring, Ryan reportedly followed a hunch and opened up to a crew of nearby city workers to get their input. Ryan simply asked if there was still a chance that the flushed wedding ring could be discovered. The next day, city workers were able to surprisingly find the ring among debris and sewage.

Ted Stonebridge, the city’s water and sewer maintenance supervisor, opened up about the discovered wedding ring — calling the overall experience “pretty amazing.”

“It’s kind of a needle-in-the-haystack type of story, and you don’t come across that type of stuff.”

How was the flushed wedding ring recovered?

Three of Stonebridge’s team members — Mike Varnier, Ethan Merritt and Jose Cervantes — placed a utility camera within the sewer pipe. Using that technology, they were able to gain a front-row seat for viewing what was buried inside. The team used a truck to suck up debris and flush out the sewage. The Seattle Times reports that they sifted through “paper, rock, and human waste until someone spotted a slight shimmer.”

To say that the Cornish family was happy to receive the recovered wedding ring would apparently be a major understatement. Ryan shared his emotional response with the Seattle Times, claiming that “there were tears of joy” and “elation.” Instead of rushing to share the good news with his wife, he apparently decided to get it cleaned up by the jeweler first.

Eric Freund, the jeweler that sold Ryan the original set, says that he “was literally in shock” when Ryan showed up at the shop wanting to get his previously flushed wedding ring cleaned. In addition to cleaning and polishing the beautiful diamond ring, Freund further stated that the ring was also steamed, soaked and plated.

How did 34-year-old Anna Cornish respond when the wedding ring was finally presented to her?

“I was shocked and speechless, and I looked over at my husband and I was like, ‘Did you get a new one?’ and he said, ‘No, they found it.’ I just felt speechless, tears started coming down my eyes, tears started coming down my mom’s eyes.”

What makes this story even more emotional was how the ring was presented to Anna. Instead of handing it over to his wife personally, Ryan allowed the couple’s son Landon to present the “surprise” himself. According to the report, Ryan woke his son up from a nap and told him to give the ring to his mother.

The previously flushed wedding ring serves as a life lesson for young Landon when it comes to the rules of proper toilet flushing etiquette.

[Image Credit: Sararwut Jaimassiri/Shutterstock]

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