Veterinarian Gary McNeill managed to track down the dumpster and find his lost ring

Apr 1, 2014 17:16 GMT  ·  By
Veterinarian Gary McNeill found his wedding ring after it was accidentally thrown away
   Veterinarian Gary McNeill found his wedding ring after it was accidentally thrown away

A veterinarian from Oklahoma City lost his wedding ring during an emergency surgery on a dog and went on a “needle in a haystack” hunt to find it after it was accidentally thrown away.

During medical procedures, Dr. Gary McNeill normally takes his wedding ring off and leaves it on the corner of the metal surgery table, only to put it back on his finger when the surgery ends.

But this week, after performing an emergency procedure on a dog, the veterinarian forgot to put the ring back and realized he was no longer wearing it only when he got home. The next day at work, he noticed his ring was gone. Apparently, the piece of jewelry fell into the trash can that was placed under the surgery table.

According to Yahoo News, McNeill checked the trash can but, unfortunately, it had already been emptied into the dumpster outside the veterinarian's office, which had been also taken to the trash dump.

The 67-year-old man, who has been married to Barbara O'Neill for 10 years, called the local waste depot in an attempt to track the garbage and, subsequently, his wedding band.

“You lose your ring, that’s not a good omen,” the doctor said.

So, he decided to take on the challenge of searching for it on the local landfill. The doctor and his wife went to the city dump, and, after being showed where the truck collecting in his office's area would dump the trash, they started to dig. They were basically looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack, as they were in a cluttered landfill site, where around 2,000 tons of litter were brought every day.

“Of all the places, I take my wife to the trash dump,” McNeill said.

Shawn Cockrell, the site operator, said it was the second “lost ring” call he had received in 17 years and was happy to land the doctor a hand in finding his ring.

“It’s not very often, but when we do, we do what we can to help them find it,” Cockrell said.

Interestingly enough, after an hour of digging, McNeill managed to find his wedding band inside a cardboard box.

The doctor explained that the ring was special, because it represented not only the love he felt for his wife, but also his heritage. The Celtic-influenced band with an inset diamond was specially designed by McNeill himself.