In Dunedin, Fla., two city workers are being hailed as "angels" for their heroic efforts in aiding a widow who accidentally flushed her cherished engagement ring down a toilet only two weeks after losing her husband to cancer.
When Steve and Cindy Pike married in 1979, Steve couldn’t afford to buy the ring of Cindy’s dreams. But, in October 2014, as the retired sheriff’s deputy battled multiple myeloma, he proudly presented his wife with a princess-cut diamond ring set in yellow gold with diamond accents on the band, according to FOX 13 in Tampa.
"Thirty-five years later, he saved up enough money to get me my engagement ring that he had always wanted to give me," Cindy said.
On January 29, Steve succumbed to his five-year fight with the aggressive blood disease and the ring became an even more important symbol of their love and life together.
Then, only two weeks later, Cindy did the unthinkable. She accidentally dropped her new engagement ring in the toilet, and in one flush, it was gone.
"It just went down and I screamed, thinking I'll never see this ring again," she told FOX 13.
A local plumber told her there was no hope to get her ring back, but her friends advised her to call the City of Dunedin.
City workers Jeff Givens and Brad Young arrived at her home with a plan — a plan they would implement on their own time.
Four hours after their shift had ended, the dedicated city workers were back at Cindy’s house, running a flexible camera into her sewer line to try to view where the ring may have ended up. Eventually they found what they were looking for.
"At that point, I felt pretty good that we were going to get it," Young said.
They dug a four-foot deep hole in her backyard to access the main pipe. Then, using a plastic bag as a filter and a high-power hose, they flushed her system.
Then Cindy got the news she’d hoped for. “Brad came to the door and said, ‘We see the ring,’” Cindy said.
“To me, they’re my angels and always will be," she said. "And I think we’ll always be friends.”
Cindy offered a monetary reward, but the men wouldn't take it.
"Knowing what she was going through and in the stress that she was under, it meant a lot to me to be able to help her out," Young told FOX 13.
The workers said that Cindy actually helped their efforts by not allowing any water to run in the house after the ring went down the toilet.
Screen captures via FOX 13
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