When Gainesville resident Joan Sheffield realized that she had accidentally thrown away her wedding rings Sunday evening, the first thing she did was hit her knees and pray.
Her prayers were answered not long after. A phone call led to a brief search through the trash at the Hall County landfill, where Sheffield said she was able to identify her bag of trash from a green twist tie.
“I proceeded to untwist it, find the bags of trash and go through them one by one until I found the rings still rolled up in the paper towel,” said Sheffield.
Sheffield said she had taken her rings off Sunday night to cook dinner and placed them in her pocket. Afterwards she started cleaning and stuffed pieces of trash in her pocket as she went. When she removed the trash from her pockets to throw away, she accidentally threw her rings away with it.
It wasn’t until Monday morning that Sheffield realized she was missing her rings and recalled what she had done with them. By that time, City of Gainesville Solid Waste crews had already picked up the trash from her home.
Sheffield immediately called Dan Owen, the city’s Solid Waste Superintendent, who came up with a plan.
"My initial reaction was what can we do to help her," said Owen. "I thought how far would the truck be on down past her pickup and what could we do to stop the truck."
Owen was able to locate the truck and told the driver to take it to the landfill to prevent any additional trash from being added. He then called Sheffield back and told her to meet the truck at the landfill.
Sheffield and her husband immediately drove to the landfill, where the couple and workers from the City of Gainesville and Hall County were able to locate her trash.
Sheffield said she was still mourning over the loss of over mother when she accidentally threw her rings away. Despite the tough past few weeks and her husband’s doubts about recovering the jewelry, Sheffield had faith that they would find her wedding rings.
“When I found it, I looked up at him and he started shaking his head and he said ‘I don’t believe it.’ and I said, ‘Well, it’s just a case of divine intervention.’,” said Sheffield.
Owen said the most important factor in locating the rings was timing.
"Time is of essence. Calls come in maybe that afternoon or the next day and people say that they thought they threw something away the day before and at that time it's at the bottom of the landfill," said Owen.
Sheffield isn’t the only resident to accidentally throw away valuables. In a press release from Hall County, Hall County Solid Waste Director Johnnie Vickers said staff recovered around $100,000 worth of jewelry in 2018.
“It seems like every Christmas, someone accidentally throws away a child’s gifts or we are sent looking for a precious keepsake during another time of year that somehow ended up in the trash,” said Vickers. “We are happy to help, and it’s just a part of what we do.”
Sheffield said she is extremely grateful to the staff that helped her and hopes her story will brighten someone’s day during these times of uncertainty.
“I hope this is a shining light,” said Sheffield. “There is hope in the darkest of times.”
http://accesswdun.com/article/2020/4/893726/hope-in-the-darkest-of-times-gainesville-woman-recovers-wedding-ring-after-accidentally-throwing-away