The scuba diver was successful in locating her $5,000 treasure.
An Alabama newlywed thought she would never see her wedding ring again after accidently knocking it into a river, until a meticulous scuba diver was able to spot her diamond in the rough.
Read: Sanitation Workers Find Woman's Diamond Rings in Dumpster After She Lost Them While Cooking
Brooke Leavins, 39, was sailing the Coosa River with her family when she took off her engagement ring and wedding band — a single piece of jewelry soldered together — to apply sunscreen.
She went to pick it back up, and the next thing she knew, the $5,000 ring was flying through the air.
“It just flung out of my fingers and plopped into the water,” she explained in an interview with InsideEdition.com. “It was like slow motion. I just watched slowly, in horror.”
When Leavins’ husband, Steven Leavins, 36, came to his senses after watching the ring sink in the water, he immediately dove in after it, but soon discovered the water was too murky for him to spot the ring.
“He was upset for me, because he knew I was upset,” she said.
Leavins explained she has only had the custom ring since March. She and her husband were married in December but the jeweler wasn’t able to complete the design until recently.
Unable to accept that she had just watched the symbol of her marriage disappear forever after just a month of owning it, Leavins photographed the scene, and frantically messaged local scuba divers to see if they could go down there and get it.
The first several divers said it was unlikely they would find it, but scuba instructor and co-owner of Southern Skin Divers Supply Spencer Phillips responded a few days later, happy to help the couple look for the ring using his diving equipment and a metal detector.
Read: With This Ring, I Thee Wet: Newly Engaged Couple Accidentally Drop Diamond Ring Into Ocean
The group was able to return to the area where the ring was dropped, and sure enough, Phillips resurfaced about 30 minutes later with the ring in hand.
“We knew that if anybody was going to find it, it was going to be Spencer,” Leavins said. “I love my ring, but at the same time, when I lost it … I just realized, ‘I haven’t lost my husband or son. We all have our health. We all have each other.’ It’s just a ring. We can replace it, but we can’t replace each other.”
