Wedding band uncovered at Great Barrier Reef

By Efrosini Costa

Wedding band uncovered at Great Barrier Reef
A newlywed groom has been reunited with his wedding band after a scuba diver found it at the bottom of the Great Barrier Reef.

There are many things tourists to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef could discover on the bottom of the ocean bed, but a wedding ring isn’t the first thing that springs to mind.

But for British Eirian Evans, the discovery comes as a relief.

The newlywed was snorkeling off Australia’s Green Island in Cairns with his new bride Bethan when his silver wedding band slipped off his finger.

After surfacing from a dive at the Great Barrier Reef on their honeymoon, the newly married couple, both 29, were horrified to discover the loss of the new ring.

They both pleaded with staff to search for the wedding band but after several hours of scouring the coral reef, they failed to spot the ring.

Mr and Mrs Evans were forced to fly back home to the UK sans wedding ring. While they had left their details with the scuba diving school, they soon lost all hope that it would ever be found again.

But by chance, a sightseer enjoying the same diving experience a few days later spotted the ring lodged in the coral and handed it over to the dive instructors.

The Ocean Free diving school then organised to have the ring sent by post to the couple, who were notified via email.

“Because the ring was new and I’m not used to wearing rings, I had been playing with it non-stop since our wedding day,” Evans told reporters, adding that he was “absolutely gutted” after thinking he had lost the new special ring forever.

“When we got back on the boat and said it was missing, two of the scuba divers offered to go and look for it but they couldn’t find it. They asked me to leave my contact details with them but I thought they were humouring me. I was convinced I would never see it again,” Evans said of the ‘heartbreaking’ experience.

Mr Evans wife told reporters she was ‘shocked and relieved’ when they heard the ring had been found.

As were Taryn Agiun, co-owner of Ocean Free, and her staff : “We all got tingles when we found out it was a wedding ring and could possibly belong to someone who had gone on one of our tours.”

“It obviously has a huge amount of sentimental value to the couple. It’s such a fantastic story. It’s a beautiful omen to their marriage, which I think shows they are meant to be together forever.”

“It’s truly amazing the ring survived, especially because fish often eat shiny or sparkly objects mistakenly for food.”

SHARE THIS ARTICLE

Print Recipe

BECOME A MiNDFOOD SUBSCRIBER TODAY

Let us keep you up to date with our weekly MiNDFOOD e-newsletters which include the weekly menu plan, health and news updates or tempt your taste buds with the MiNDFOOD Daily Recipe. 

Member Login