A lost ring found in a packet of beans has made its way back to its owner after the treasured item had travelled almost 200 kilometres.
Enjoying the fresh green beans bought from Start Fresh Fruit Market Sandra Hendren didn’t expect, as she reached for the last bean, to find a precious gold ring at the bottom of the packet.
The unusual find sparked Sandra to take to social media in the hope of finding the rightful owner, and within hours the gold ring had been claimed.
Sandra said she was cooking curry and the beans she had recently purchased were so delicious that she had to make sure the packet was empty and that’s when she came across the gold ring.
“At first I thought it was one of my rings, until I had a closer look and found there was an inscription on the back,” Sandra said.
“Because of the inscription I realised someone had lost something important.”
Sandra retraced her steps in her mind, and realised the ring was likely to have come from either Start Fresh Fruit Market, or possibly a farm worker who had picked the beans.
“I live at Mulgildie, and when we go into Bundy we will stop by the fruit shop,” she said.
“It was funny because I didn’t even have beans with me until I spotted them across the counter, and I whizzed around the other side of the counter and grabbed a packet at the last moment.”
She said if she didn’t spot the beans and make the purchase there could have been a chance the ring wasn’t found or reunited with its owner.
“It was just lucky that I liked the beans so much that I ripped the bag right open instead of just opening it the normal way, as I definitely wouldn’t have seen it if I did that,” Sandra said.
“I’m just glad I ate them all straight away and came across the ring and it didn’t get thrown out.”
Start Fresh Fruit Market employee Nien Galang was also glad the ring was saved from being thrown away, as it was a gift from his mother for his 18th birthday.
“It was the first time I had worn it to work as it’s pretty special to me,” Nien said.
“At first I didn’t notice it was gone.
“It was later when I was packing oranges I realised, and I looked everywhere for it.”
Nien said his mother had inscribed his date of birth and a message saying “my life” in to the ring and it held significant value to him.
“I just want to thank Sandra for finding and returning it,” Nien said.
“I was really worried I wouldn’t find it, and it’s a pretty amazing story to tell now.”
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