I got my ring back – thanks!
A NEWLY engaged bride-to-be is on cloud nine this week after her €3,500 engagement ring was returned to her almost two weeks after she lost it.
Twenty-two-year-old Shannon Bradshaw from Rathnew was heartbroken after she lost her engagement ring following the couple’s engagement party in the Forge on August Bank Holiday Sunday.
Alan had popped the question on July 14 after a romantic walk on the beach and had chosen the ring himself for Shannon.
However, the ring was one size too big for Shannon and she had intended getting it resized after the couple’s engagement party on the August
Bank Holiday weekend. Arriving home after the party Shannon realised her ring was missing and despite contacting the Forge, local taxi drivers, the gardai and searches of the area the ring wasn’t found.
However on reading about the lost ring in the Wicklow People last week Andy Quinn from Rathnew contacted his niece saying he thought he had found Shannon’s ring on Bank Holiday Monday while out walking.
‘On Thursday evening Lis- amarie Duffy contacted Shannon via Facebook telling her that her uncle believed he had Shannon’s missing ring. ‘Lisamarie contacted me saying her uncle read about the lost ring in the Wicklow People and thought my ring was the same as one he had picked up outside the Forge on Bank Holiday Monday morning when he was out walking. He wanted to reunite the ring with its owner.’
In another twist of fate Andy is also from Rathnew like the couple. ‘Alan was away at a family funeral in Liverpool when Lisamarie got in touch but she told me where her uncle Andy lives so I called down to him. I really wasn’t expecting it to be my ring even though I was hoping against hope that it would be. ‘I’d lost all hope and didn’t expect to see my beautiful ring again. I couldn’t believe it when he brought it out and it was my ring. My heart skipped a beat when I saw it. It was like a miracle.
‘I just started crying. I didn’t even know what to say. I really couldn’t believe that I had it back.
‘Andy was just so lovely and when he had read about our story in the Wicklow People he set about trying to contact me. He was delighted to be able to give the ring back to me. I’m so happy that I got it back.’
Shannon said that while she hadn’t known Andy prior to meeting him last week she would have seen him around Rathnew. ‘He’s out walking all the time so I had seen him around.’
She said that Alan was totally over the moon when she rang him to tell him that the ring had been found and was now back on her find.
‘We are both still in shock. I never expected to get it back. I’m so grateful to Andy.’
As soon as she got her ring back Shannon set about getting it resized.
‘Since it went missing the jewellers had been in contact with us to see if we had found it and when I contacted them to say it had been found they offered to resize it for free. It’s currently being resized and I’ll be getting it back tomorrow.
‘I actually got it two sizes smaller so it’s not going anywhere again!’
Shannon said both she and Alan have been overwhelmed by the support they received from people since the ring was lost. She thanked everyone who helped search for the ring, to the Wicklow People and to Andy Quinn and his family.