Against all odds, a Colwood woman has been sa国际传媒渕iraculouslysa国际传媒 reunited with her wedding ring after losing it in Lookout Lake.
For over two weeks, Deborah Parkersa国际传媒檚 gold ring lay lost among the stones and the weeds at the bottom of the sa国际传媒渕urkysa国际传媒 lake, after it unknowingly slipped off her finger during a quick dip to escape the hot weather.
Desperate to find the ring, which originally belonged to her mother, Parker and her family made several attempts to recover it. Her 13-year-old granddaughter even threw on a pair of swimming goggles and searched the lake for nearly an hour, but to no avail.
sa国际传媒淲e had no luck at all,sa国际传媒 said Parker, a grandmother of 10. sa国际传媒淢y husband said there was no way we would find it, it was like looking for a needle in a haystack.sa国际传媒
In a last ditch attempt, Parker posted a plea for help on the Colwood Community Facebook page, and coming to her rescue was View Royal resident Craig Shotton, a sa国际传媒減rofessional hobbyingsa国际传媒 detectorist.
Shotton offered to travel to Lookout Lake that same morning to search for the ring with his metal detector.
sa国际传媒淚 really was shocked sa国际传媒 that some stranger would be kind enough to spend part of their Sunday and go out to look for it,sa国际传媒 said Parker.
An experienced detectorist of five years, this isnsa国际传媒檛 the first time Shotton has come to the aid of a distressed local. Hesa国际传媒檚 had previous success in two other searches and also lists a gold American coin from the 1880s, worth an estimated $2,000, and a Spanish coin from 1827 among his personal discoveries.
So before arriving at the lake, Shotton said that he felt 80 per cent confident that he could find the ring. But when he saw the sa国际传媒渃loudysa国际传媒 lake and realized that he would be wading in water up to four-feet deep, the chances of a find dropped to 40 per cent.
Despite the odds stacked against him, Shotton and his trusty metal detector persisted with the search, ignoring false alarms such as a lead fishing weight and a drinks can ring-pull.
However, as time crept on, he became less optimistic and decided to call it a day, but then Shotton struck gold, quite literally.
sa国际传媒淚t took me maybe three or four tries to scoop it out of the water, but when I raised the scoop out of the water, there was an absolutely huge yellow gold band sitting on top of the gravel,sa国际传媒 said Shotton. sa国际传媒淚 couldnsa国际传媒檛 believe I found it. I handed it to Deborahsa国际传媒檚 daughter, Annalise, who was there helping me and she was in tears almost immediately.sa国际传媒
Parker was reunited with the ring later that day.
sa国际传媒淭o me, it was a miracle,sa国际传媒 said Parker. sa国际传媒淚 was really shocked sa国际传媒 I had a little cry.sa国际传媒
About his good deed, Shotton said it felt sa国际传媒渁mazingsa国际传媒 to help. sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 hard to describe the joy of bringing happiness to somebody like that,sa国际传媒 said Shotton.
A couple of days later the pair met so Parker could properly thank Shotton.
sa国际传媒淗e was wonderful, and his wife Michele was wonderful too, and I gave them a hug,sa国际传媒 said Parker. sa国际传媒淚've told him that if he ever needs anything to call me. And my husbandsa国际传媒檚 a retired electrical contractor, so hesa国际传媒檚 offered his help if ever Craig needs any electrical things fixed.sa国际传媒
The feel-good story has captured the hearts of the community who have praised Shottonsa国际传媒檚 kindness.
sa国际传媒淣ot all heroes wear capes, is one of the comments that I saw on Facebook,sa国际传媒 said Parker.