NHS nurse finds engagement ring lost for two and a half years

An NHS nurse "cried with happiness" after finding her engagement ring two and a half years after losing it in her garden.

Alison Brown lost her ring while hanging out the washing line at her home in Kent.

Her husband Steve, 42, said at the time his wife was "absolutely heartbroken".

Mrs Brown said the timely find would give her "more strength and positivity" in her work treating coronavirus patients.

"Last year we dug up a huge amount of our garden to do the patio," Mr Brown said.

"We searched again but couldn't find anything, but that soil went onto one of our vegetable patches.

"[On Sunday] I was mowing the grass and she came running over screaming. I thought she'd chopped half of her foot off with the shovel."

However, the screams were joyous ones as Mrs Brown, who is training as an advanced clinical practitioner, had happened across her ring by chance.

"I am always optimistic, that's my nature. I just knew one day I would find it," she said.

"I believe in destiny. It was amazing, I screamed so much. Then I cried with happiness, feeling faint with emotion."

The Browns will be looking forward to 15 years as a married couple in September, but finding the ring came with additional significance due to Mrs Brown's work as a nurse.

"I felt blessed to find it, yet guilty I was happy at a time when so many are suffering in the world," she said. "Something I'm witnessing first hand."

Mrs Brown said her work in the battle against the coronavirus pandemic is "something in my 20 years I've never experienced".

"This is demanding all our knowledge, skills, resilience and teamwork to plan and cope with a destructive invisible enemy," she added.

"Finding my ring has given me even more strength and positivity."