Relief for couple who retrieve diamond in the sand

WHEN Ryan Clarke and his fiancé, Beth Donnelly decided to take a trip to Downhill beach to soak up the last of the evening sun, they never expected this picturesque scene would be the setting of a drama that would consume them for the next 15 hours – beginning when Beth lost her engagement ring, and concluding when metal detectorists found it buried deep in the sand.

The couple spoke with me over the handsfree car kit, as they drove from their home in Lisburn to Ryan’s home-house in Omagh. The purpose of their visit… to watch themselves on the evening news!

Reflecting on how the ring got lost, Ryan said, “We arrived in the mid-evening and set up the sunbathing station on the soft sand.”

Before running toward the sea for a splash, Ryan reminded Beth that it would be wise to take off her jewellery – and Beth deposited all of her jewellery in the safety repository of the car. Or so she thought.

After a cooling dip, they returned to the car, and hit the road.

“However, it was panic stations when Beth took a closer look at the contents of the cup holder and realised that everything was there… apart from the engagement ring,” Ryan said. “Ironically, Beth must have lost it on her way to put it in the car for safekeeping.”

Natural light depleting, under torchlight they dug frantically through the sand where they imagined the ring might be.

“We drove home depressed – this ring was literally irreplaceable,” Ryan said. “Beth’s mum and I had it designed bespokley in America, where Beth is from. It’s one-of-a-kind and is a special connection between Beth and her mum.”

But they resolved they would both rent a metal detector, and search again the following day.

A heartening Facebook appeal, which boasted 3,500 shares, saw support spill out, with people offering to join the search party.

Ryan continued, “A father-and-son said they would take their high powered metal detectors down and help us in our search.

“They were there from 5am.

“Standing chatting with Ryan McCloy, hope diminishing, he was swaying his detector around when he picked up a faint signal.

“Ryan started digging – when he got about a foot down, we saw a circular piece of metal.”

Dismissing it as the ‘silver pull of a coke can’, Ryan pulled it out – and found a diamond with it.

Cheers resounded – the collective effort paid off.

Off the back of this saga, Ryan and Andy McCloy, who have found Bronze Age arrow heads and coins dating back to the 1500s, are now offering their services helping anyone retrieve misplaced metals at the beach.

Story by Emmet McElhatton (e.mcelhatton@ulsterherald.com)