We were delighted to reunite Mr Higham with his wedding ring. It wasn’t quite like hunting for a needle in a haystack, but it was close!
Steve Hodges
A wedding ring, a priceless heirloom that had been passed down through generations, has been reunited with its delighted owner.
Darren Higham, who runs Higham’s Butchers in Whitnash, Leamington, thought his wedding ring had vanished for good when it slipped from his finger into a near-full skip at Princes Drive Household Waste Recycling Centre in Leamington.
Such was his anguish he asked to get into the skip there and then and begin a hunt for it. However, staff explained this was not possible, and he then suggested he goes to where the waste is sorted.
Recycling Advisors, employed by H W Martin Waste Ltd, which manages the site on behalf of Warwickshire County Council, decided to take matters into their own hands and emptied the entire skip while it was still on site.
After almost two-days of sifting through more than seven tonnes of wood waste, the ring was discovered again.
Mr Higham said: “I couldn’t believe it when it dropped into the skip. My heart just sank. I was going into hospital the next day for an operation and just thought ‘that’s it, I’m never going to see it again’.
“When I got the phonecall I was over the moon. It was such a surprise. I really didn’t think it would have been possible. The ring means a lot to me, it had been my grandfather’s.”
Mr Higham made sure the workers at the recycling centre got a treat for their hard work and presented them with an array of barbecue favourites from his butchers, including burgers, sausages and kebabs.
Steve Hodges, Area Contract Manager, said: “We were delighted to reunite Mr Higham with his wedding ring. It wasn’t quite like hunting for a needle in a haystack, but it was close!”