Two Illinois sewage workers who spent hours flushing out a main with water from a hose recovered a woman's diamond wedding ring.

ADVERTISEMENT

"All of us at the same time literally said, 'Holy crap,'" Mark Ermence told the Naperville Sun. "It's a miracle. I hugged the two sewer guys, by the way."

The trouble began several days earlier when Carrie Ermence took the ring off to do her hand-care routine. Her 7-year-old daughter found the ring, decided to wash it and then wrapped it in toilet paper to dry it.

Mark Ermence, finding what appeared to be a wad of toilet paper in the bathroom, threw it in what seemed to be the appropriate place.

Ermence said that his 9-year-old son, Jack, kept everyone's spirits up by telling them the one thing they could not lose was hope. He described the two sewage workers who found the ring, Jamie Antich and Tim Sloan, as his heroes.

Mark Straughn, a supervisor, said the Naperville Wastewater Department gets similar calls several times a year, and happy endings are rare.