A student technician said he felt “such relief” when he was reunited with a ring which has been in his family for 100 years thanks to the “sharp eye” of the ambulance pilot who found it.
Jake Byatt, a student technician for the East Midlands Ambulance Service, was en route to his ambulance driving test on April 10 when he happened upon a car in a ditch close to the Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance headquarters in Lincoln and stopped to help.
He was wearing his gold ring with the word dad engraved on it on a chain around his neck.
It was only after passing his test that he realised it had snapped off the chain, and he retraced his steps “to no avail”.
The ring has been in his family for around 100 years and was given to Mr Byatt on an important milestone.
“The ring was handed to me by my mum for my 21st birthday” the 24-year-old who lives in Lincoln, told the PA news agency.
“The ring belonged to my grandad, Arthur. It was handed down to him by his mum, Phyllis, it was her wedding ring.”
Phyllis and her son Arthur have both died.
Mr Byatt contacted the National Ring Recovery Service on Facebook, which offers searches for lost metallic items, and was planning to meet someone on April 14 to search for the ring.
However, he was alerted to a post on Facebook from Lostbox – an online lost and found service – which featured a picture of his ring next to a 20p coin, to highlight its size.
After ensuring it was his by asking if the word dad was engraved on it, all that was left to do was set a time and place to get it back from the man who found it, air ambulance helicopter pilot Mike Georgiou.
The pair met at Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance headquarters, Mr Georgiou’s place of work, on April 12.
“It turns out Mike was one of the pilots who attended the call for the accident I stopped at and spotted it in the middle of the road,” he said.
“It was a complete shock, (I) felt such relief and thanks to Mike for his sharp eyes in finding it.
“I didn’t think it would ever be found.”
Mr Georgiou, 55, who lives in Lincolnshire, said he initially thought the ring belonged to the woman who was involved in the crash, but when it did not he decided he would drop it off at a nearby police station when he got a chance.
However, when he got home, he opted to post about it on Facebook and came across Lostbox, who posted about the ring for him on April 11.
He told PA although he was initially cynical about the ring being found, it was a “great feeling” when it was reunited with its owner.
“The fact it was found so quick, I was quite surprised,” he added.
“When Jake told me it had been in the family for probably 100 years I was really surprised. I would have never thought that.
“It’s a nice feeling to have made somebody happy again and he definitely seemed very happy when I handed it back to him.”
More information about Lostbox can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/LostBox
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