New York fairy tale for distraught couple

It was a heart-stopping moment watched by hundreds of thousands of people around the world.

Fresh from the jubilant “Yes!” that followed a fairy tale proposal in New York City, the engagement ring slipped from the finger of the bride-to-be and into the gutter.

After fruitlessly poking their fingers through the grate, and even calling the police, Daniella Anthony and John Drennan, from Peterborough, England, thought their happy moment had been ruined and gave up. The crestfallen couple left the U.S. without leaving their details, assuming their ring was lost forever.

However, despite police not finding it the first time, two New York Police Department (NYPD) officers went back the next morning and managed to fish the ring out of the gutter in Times Square, and even cleaned off the dust and dirt.

The couple were, by then, nowhere to be found, so police launched a campaign to find the missing pair on social media. A CCTV clip posted by the NYPD on Twitter showed the whole -fiasco, with Drennen seen lying on the floor in a vain attempt to catch a glimpse of the ring.

The force wrote: “WANTED for dropping his fiancee’s ring in @Timessquarenyc! She said Yes — but he was so excited that he dropped the ring in a grate. Our @Nypdspecialops officers rescued it & would like to return it to the happy couple. Help us find them?”

A friend of the couple spotted it and alerted them as their plane touched down in London. The couple, who do not use social media, were overjoyed.

“I want to clarify that I did not propose over a grate in Times Square — that’s where we lost it,” Drennan told the BBC. They had, in fact, shared the special moment under the autumn leaves in Central Park about two hours before going to Times Square.

However, it did appear to be his fault — the ring was too big for her finger, but he asked her to wear it anyway. “I tried to tell John it was too big but he insisted I wear it,” said Anthony.

The couple will now liaise with the NYPD to get the ring safely returned to their home in Peterborough.

NYPDNEWS Daniella Anthony and John Drennan lost the engagement ring as it slipped from the finger of the bride-to-be and into the gutter.