New York

Woman's Flushed Wedding Ring Found in Sewer Near Orlando, Returned to Grateful Owner

What to Know

  • Gina Henken told NBC affiliate WESH-TV that she took the ring off while cooking at her home in Oviedo and put it in her pocket.
  • Moments later, the ring her husband gave Henken nearly 30 years ago when they were married in Long Island, New York went missing.

A woman near Orlando is thankful this morning after public works officials recovered her wedding ring after it got flushed down the toilet – a recovery the department’s director said had a ‘one in a million’ chance of succeeding.

Gina Henken told NBC affiliate WESH-TV that she took the ring off while cooking at her home in Oviedo and put it in her pocket. Moments later, the ring her husband gave Henken nearly 30 years ago when they were married in Long Island, New York went missing in the bathroom.

Henken says she searched throughout the house, but couldn’t find it.

"I'm, like, 'Oh no,' I just started crying, like, unbelievable crying,” she said. "I was just so sad, so I prayed, prayed, prayed and I went to bed."

After her husband Steve, who serves on the city council, was unable to find the ring in the home’s sewer cleanout, he called the public works department and spoke to the director.

"He said 'Steve, it is a shot in the dark and actually it was one in a million.' He goes, 'The water is so turbulent in the drain, I doubt we can find this ring,”” Henken said.

A technician came to the scene, jumped into a 20-foot manhole and was able to locate the jewelry before giving it back to the husband – who told his wife the mission was unsuccessful before pulling the ring out and placing it on her finger just like he did decades before.

"I started crying all over again," Gina said. "I never thought I would see this ring again."

Officials from the department told the station that no preferential treatment was giving to the councilman and they would have done the same thing for any member of the community that asked help.

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