Beautiful Gold Diamond Ring Lost & Found On Sandbanks Beach

Louise from Devon enjoyed a bite of luxury staying at the Haven Hotel, Sandbanks with her friend one weekend in June. It was the first time she had been away for years since losing her husband of 58 years & caring for him in his last seven. She doted on the ring he had given her all those years ago & was devastated to see it slip from her finger whilst swimming in the sea. Neck deep in water she could see it before it finally succumbed to the shifting sand, depth & waves.

Still upset it took 10 days for her to break the sad news to her daughter who took a chance to look for a potential miracle. When I received her call it was already 2 weeks since losing it in a notorious area of soft sand. Unsure of her exact position, difficult water depths to work in &  listening for the faintest signal made it seem a futile search. It was time to switch machines to the Whites Surf Master PI & patiently await a low tide..

During the following 2 weeks I spent 2 hours a time over five visits, digging over 100 holes. On my 11th hour, much closer to the shore the Surf Master gave a ‘Ghost Signal’. As usual I thought « another nail or bottle cap ». The signal grew stronger, passing 12 inches down a positive bleep and the from the blackened sand I caught a glimpse of gold! « A gold beer cap » I thought? Hurriedly I scooped again tossing the black dirty sand on to the shore. Proudly sitting on top in alls its crowning glory- there it was! I’m often asked ‘what’s the feeling like to recover something’? In this case utter relief, both physically & mentally.

I called Louise’s daughter Sarah to break the good news. So happy were they that the next day they drove an 8 hour round trip to collect it. I’m happy with every recovery I make but this one touched me more because of the sentiments the ring held. Later I was moved further when I learnt that Louise & Sarah had made a donation to the Margaret Green Animal Rescue beyond my furthest imagination.