Metal detectorists Oscar Parkinson and Richard Parkinson found Alanna Gorin's engagement ring after her husband Michael Gorin lost it in the ocean while swimming in Mount Maunganui.
Michael Gorin had been in the Mount Maunganui surf for about an hour on Saturday when he had a sinking feeling.
After body surfing back to the beach, he felt his back pocket and realised his wife Alanna’s engagement ring, which he had secured on his boardshorts’ loop and vowed to keep safe, was lost at sea.
His first thought was: “Oh s***.”
The ring was special, an emerald-cut solitaire diamond and gold band he designed himself before proposing at the top of a California mountain.
With the waves at chest height and a large area where the precious item could have slipped away, the devastated Kapiti Coast couple did not think they would get it back.
Michael said the worst part was knowing how much it upset his wife of six years.
“You can’t replace something like that, it would never be the same,” said Alanna. “I thought I had lost it forever and I was very, very upset.”
She feared their family trip to the Bay of Plenty would be dampened but that night, they posted on a local Facebook noticeboard and were directed to a nationwide “ring finders” group.
The next morning, four strangers were at the beach with metal detectors in hand.
Metal detectorists Oscar Parkinson (left) and Richard Parkinson (right) helped find Alanna Gorin's engagement ring after husband Michael accidentally lost it in the surf at Mount Maunganui beach. Photo / Alex Cairns
The group systematically combed about a football field-size area of beach and in the waist-deep waves for two to three hours.
“It was like trying to find a needle in the haystack and the odds were so low given he was so deep in the water,” Alanna said.
“But it was such an amazing feeling seeing all these people come and help who didn’t even know us.”
Oscar Parkinson, a metal detectorist since he was a child, found out about the couple’s plight when his stepmother sent him the Facebook post.
“I thought, we’ve got a free day, we’ve got metal detectors, may as well give it a go.”
With his father Richard Parkinson and school friend Kobe Jervis along for company, they trekked to the beach at low tide, when the waves would be shallower.
With a 200-300m radius to search, Oscar thought the chances of success were low.
A woman with a detector was already inspecting the wet sand below the tide line.
Michael and Alanna Gorin, of Waikanae, thought they would never see her engagement ring again after it was lost in the surf. But metal-detecting enthusiasts Oscar Parkinson (left) and Richard Parkinson (right) saved the day. Photo / Alex Cairns
Oscar, equipped with his $3500 waterproof device, scanned the seas as his father searched with a second detector.
“It’s not easy in the water because as each wave comes through it tries to push the detector one way, and when the wave goes out it gets pushed back the other way,” Oscar said.
He reckoned the ring would have dropped down and been quickly buried by sand, rather than washing to shore like a bottle would have.
There was a false alarm, which turned out to be “half a hairclip”. The other searcher, who did not want to be named, told the Bay of Plenty Times she found an elephant pendant and a silver can head, but no ring.
About two hours in, Oscar’s dad received a patchy signal.
“We thought it seemed interesting, but we weren’t convinced,” said Oscar.
They dug it up anyway, using a scoop to filter the sand.
“The danger about being in the water is that if you don’t get the item in the scoop, it falls to the bottom of the hole and as the next wave comes through, it buries it even deeper.”
After about four unsuccessful scoops, Michael, who had been watching, and the other detectorist came over.
The other detectorist also scanned the area and received a weak signal and left to continue the search.
The trio decided to try another tactic — taking two big scoops of sand and dumping them on the beach before another wave crashed. They waited for a lull and Richard hauled out the first scoop.
“And there it was,” Oscar said.
“The gold band of the ring was just sitting on top of the sand and shining in the sun.”
Alanna Gorin and her lost-and-found engagement ring. Her fiance, Michael, lost the ring while swimming at Mount Maunganui. It was found after a small group of metal detectorists came to help. Photo / Alex Cairns
“We were all just so shocked,” Oscar said.
Alanna was just as surprised when she heard the good news.
”I was completely blown away and over the moon,” she said.
The team celebrated the happy ending with drinks at Alanna and Michael’s apartment, and the couple compensated the detectors for their efforts.
Alanna said she would “never forget” what they did.
“My ring now holds even more meaning, knowing that it was buried in the ocean for 24 hours and a group of strangers banded together to bring it back to me.
“I’ll always be thankful to them and on top of that, I’ll never let my husband look after it again.”
This story has been updated. Alanna and Michael Gorin were staying at an apartment. The other detectorist, who also scanned the area where the ring was eventually found, received a weak signal rather than no signal.
Harriet Laughton is a multimedia journalist based in the Bay of Plenty.
