How wedding ring lost in ocean made it home on couple’s anniversary

By Hamish Morrison via Johnson Press Syndication via SWNS

A man who lost his wedding ring was stunned when it was found by a metal detectorist — who returned it on the couple's anniversary.

Daryll Leslie, 31, married wife Carey, 37, on September 28, 2019 and the couple spent a day hand making each other's rings.

But the gold band slipped off when Daryll went for a dip with a pal on a beach at the Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides in Scotland on September 4.

“We decided to swim in this little cove which was really beautiful," said Daryll, an interior designer.

“As we were walking back to the car, I realized I didn’t have my wedding ring.I looked at my hand and I was gutted."

He only spent 20 minutes in the water but due to a condition, Raynaud’s, which restricts blood flow in cold water, the ring slipped off.

“My fingers shrink in the cold," he said.

“It’s kind of a material thing, but it’s even more important because me and my wife spent a day making each others’ wedding rings.

"It’s not easily replaceable. It’s not like I could go into H. Samuel to pick another one out."

Carey, who works as a life skills coordinator, was away on a spa weekend with friends so Daryll pretended nothing had happened although he eventually told her.

“Carey messaged me asking how are things and I said 'Great, couldn’t be better," Darryl said.

Carey said: "I was obviously disappointed but knew there was no point in me giving him a hard time.

He used social media to try to track down the ring - which was found by Stephen MacLeod, 31, who lives on the island.

Stephen arranged for it to be delivered in person in Edinburgh to the couple, which coincidentally was on their second wedding anniversary.

The search was given a boost because the swim had been limited to a part of the bay hemmed in by rocks at high tide.

Daryll said: “We were swimming in this cove so we had a rectangle we knew we had been swimming in.

“We knew we didn’t go past those rocks on either side so we could narrow it down slightly.

“If it had just been on the beach there would be no way we could have found it.”

Painter and decorator Stephen thought it was unlikely he would manage to find the lost ring when he went out with a friend. He usually sticks to fields when searching for treasure and has found a hoard of coins from the reign of Henry III and a coin from George III’s rule before

Stephen MacLeod having found the ring. (Daryll Leslie via SWNS)

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“We were looking for over an hour and there was nothing happening,"Stephen said.

“I thought it was long gone, even while we were looking, we didn’t really expect to find it.

“Once I got the signal, it came up on my machine saying it had found gold and I knew straight away before I started digging that was it.

“I mostly detect on crofts and fields, I rarely do beaches.

“I would have thought the tide would have taken it out.

“It was an amazing feeling.”

The ring may now be sent to a jewelers to be resized to avoid it slipping off again.

“It was a nice surprise and we hadn’t even planned it,"Daryll said.

Carey added: "I didn't think there was any chance we would get it back.

"I was really over the moon when it was found because I knew Daryll would be so happy.

"What a lovely thing to do, to go out and look for it for someone you don't know."