A stranger saved my wedding
The shine had faded from her upcoming wedding. But then christie campbell, 22, from Ardrossan, got a huge surprise…
Fiddling with my engagement ring, I gazed out of the window.
‘I bet I know what you’re thinking about,’ my fiance Calum, now 24, said from the sofa.
You didn’t have to be a psychic to figure that one out.
It was August 2016 and, engaged for just one week, all I could think about was getting married.
Childhood sweethearts, I’d met Calum when I was 15.
He was 17, lived a few doors down.
We’d become friends, then over the years, lovers.
Now, six years on, Calum had asked me to marry him.
He’d got down on one knee in front of a castle here in Scotland, handed me a silver, diamond-encrusted band.
‘I designed it myself,’ Calum confessed.
I was stunned.
A typical bloke, Calum was totally unromantic.
I guess that’s why it meant so much.
And why I fiddled with it constantly.
Calum and I set a date for May 2019.
‘Let’s go on holiday to celebrate!’ I suggested. Calum loved the idea.
His cousin Stuart and girlfriend Nicole fancied it, too.
The next May, we jetted off to El Arenal, Mallorca.
It was scorching hot. A far cry from Scotland!
The beach was mobbed with tourists.
‘This is the life!’ I smiled to Calum.
‘Fancy a dip?’ he said. Why not?!
Splashing and paddling about, the water was lovely.
But, sitting back on my sun lounger, I automatically went to twiddle with my ring finger – then froze... My ring was gone! I felt sick. Panicking, I stood up and frantically looked around.
‘What’s wrong?’ Calum said, confused.
‘I’ve lost it,’
I cried, tears streaming.
He went pale. We started looking in the sea for my ring.
When Stuart and Nicole found out, they tried to help.
Dug holes in the sand where we’d been.
‘When did you last
Calum’s jaw dropped and I burst into tears!
have it?’ Stuart said.
My mind went blank, I couldn’t be sure.
‘Maybe it’s back at the villa?’ Nicole said.
They tried their best to get my hopes up.
But my gut wasn’t wrong. Crying all the way back to the villa, I just knew I’d be disappointed.
Sure enough, it wasn’t there. ‘I can’t believe I’ve lost it,’ I sobbed, as we turned the place upside down. My precious ring. It was so special... Calum looked gutted but tried to stay strong for me. Him and Stuart went back down to the beach.
In a few hours, they came back, told me they got help from a guy with a metal detector.
But they’d had no luck. ‘I gave him my details just in case,’ Stuart said. ‘Don’t be stupid, he won’t find it,’
I said miserably. When I awoke the next morning, I hoped it was a bad dream. But reality soon set in. It ruined the holiday. Put a real dampener on everyone’s moods. I would randomly burst into tears when I remembered I’d never wear my lovely ring again.
‘Why don’t we get you another one?’ Calum said kindly.
But it wouldn’t be the same. Plus, we had a wedding to save up for!
We decided to pull it forward to that November, as we just wanted to get married soon.
I tried to forget about what had happened, but I’d get a pang every time I looked at my hands and my ring wasn’t there.
That September, we invited Stuart and Nicole over for dinner.
‘Oh, we’ve got something for you,’ Stuart breezed.
He pulled out a box.
Thinking it was for the wedding, I let Calum open it.
His jaw dropped.
‘I can’t believe this,’ he whispered.
Inside was a familiar diamond-encrusted ring!
I burst into tears, didn’t realise Stuart was filming me. ‘But how?’ I gasped. Turns out, the man with the metal detector from the resort, Mohammed Khan, 54, had
found it!
Luckily, it was lodged between two rocks in the sea.
Otherwise it would’ve been lost to the deep.
Mohammed had e-mailed Stuart, saying he’d airmail it to him that August.
The ring had nothing but a few scratches on it.
I e-mailed Mohammed a big thank-you, begged to let me pay him a reward. I didn’t do it for
that, he typed. He wouldn’t accept a penny!
When I look back at the pictures where I was reunited with my ring, I laugh. My face was a picture!
On 2 November 2017, our wedding day was twice as nice!
I had my engagement ring, and a very happy husband.
Being reunited with my ring has restored my faith in humanity.
Now, I carry a story around with me wherever I go.