jamespiska: Newlywed who lost his wedding ring while snorkelling in Australia is stunned when it is posted back to him in Wales after being found at the bottom of the Great Barrier Reef

শনিবার, ২০ জুলাই, ২০১৩

Newlywed who lost his wedding ring while snorkelling in Australia is stunned when it is posted back to him in Wales after being found at the bottom of the Great Barrier Reef

Eirian Evans lost his wedding ring on a dive off Green Island, Cairns
Gave up hope after a dive team spent hours scouring the reef
The Great Barrier Reef cover 344,400 square kilometres
Couple returned home without it and planned to buy a new one
Tourist discovered the ring which has now been posted back to Cardiff

By Toni Jones

PUBLISHED: 06:49 EST, 19 July 2013 | UPDATED: 18:41 EST, 19 July 2013

The Great Barrier Reef, a vast maze of coral nooks and crannies, is not the best place to drop your wedding ring.

And what with all those sea urchins, lion fish and moray eels lurking in the rocks, its probably not a good idea to go poking around too diligently.

But Eirian Evans, along with new bride Bethan, begged their instructors to help them search the reef after his ring slipped off his finger during a honeymoon diving expedition.

British honeymooner Eirian Evans lost his wedding ring while snorkelling in the Great Barrier Reef with wife Bethan. The ring was found in the coral after the couple returned home and has now been returned to their home in Cardiff

After several hours, they gave up and the couple returned to the UK thinking the silver band was lost forever. ?

But just a few days later, the couple, both 29, received an email from the diving company telling them the ring had been found.

Miraculously, a sightseer on the same expedition as theirs spotted the ring glinting on a piece of coral and handed it to staff at the Ocean Free diving school ? not knowing what joy his find would bring.

Mr Evans, a credit card claims handler from Cardiff, said: ?I?m not used to wearing rings so I had been playing with it non-stop since our wedding day.

Eirian pictured on his wedding day showing off his new ring (left) and on the dive where he lost it (right)

The spot on the Great Barrier Reef where Eirian Evans lost his wedding ring

?I got out of the sea and went to fiddle with it and realised it had gone.

?The honeymoon to Australia was the trip of a lifetime.

?Coming back without the ring was heartbreaking but getting it back like this is the icing on the cake.? The wedding band arrived safely in the post last week.

Taryn Agiun, co-owner of the Ocean Free school, said: ?It?s truly amazing the ring survived, especially because fish often eat shiny or sparkly objects mistakenly for food.

?We all got tingles when we found out it was a wedding ring and could belong to someone who had gone on one of our tours.

?It?s a beautiful omen to their marriage, which I think shows they are meant to be together forever.?