A South Carolina woman is happy after a recycling plant recovered the diamond ring she accidentally threw away over the weekend.
Melanie Harp of Greenville, South Carolina, was dumping recyclables into a trash can at the city’s Rutherford Road Recycling Center on Sunday, January 28, when disaster struck.
Harper’s diamond wedding ring came off and went straight into the recycling bin, the city shared in a Facebook post on Tuesday, Jan. 30.
Saddened by what happened, but not ready to give up hope just yet, Harper emailed the City of Greenville’s Public Works Department.
She writes: “We know the chances of finding this are slim. However, if you find the ring during the recycling process, we would appreciate it if you could let us know.”
Against all odds, and in a move similar to finding a needle in a haystack, the ring was found, the city of Greenville wrote.
On Monday, employees went on a treasure hunt instead of going through all the contents of the recycling bins.
“Public works supervisors and garbage collection workers told us, ‘Just throw it on the ground and let’s look for it,'” the City of Greenville wrote.
Public works employee Travis Golden discovered the ring “after several hours of searching,” the city said.
Golden: “I struck gold. White gold,” he posted on Facebook.
“They called Melanie, who was very grateful, and she came out. [the public works building] To be reunited with her ring,” the city wrote.
In a Facebook post, he named other public works employees who helped find the ring and said, “We are all so grateful for their contributions to our community.”
Facebook users were quick to praise public works officials in the comments.
“Very nice! I hope those gentlemen are treated to a steak dinner,” one Facebook user wrote.
“We absolutely love Greenville’s public works department!!” another user wrote.
