Steven AndrewsA metal detectorist in Jersey has been told he helped save a marriage after reuniting a wedding ring with its owner.
Firefighter Steven Andrews helps islanders locate their possessions in his spare time.
Mr Andrews said he did his first recovery in 2018 and, since then, had located about 120 sentimental items, including Ollie Lee’s wedding ring, which was lost in the sea.
Mr Lee, who lives in London with his wife Alexandra, said they were visiting his family who live in St Lawrence and were at Grève de Lecq when the ring was lost. He joked Mr Andrews’ assistance in recovering the two-year-old piece of jewellery “probably saved my marriage”.
Mr Lee said: “We were all out swimming and we were throwing a ball to each other. I was conscience of my ring because it’s slightly too big and I was holding on to it.
“As I threw the ball for the third time, I looked and my wedding ring was gone.”
He said his family were all in the water searching for it for about 45 minutes, with other swimmers with snorkels also helping.
Steven AndrewsMr Lee contacted Mr Andrews, who met them when the tide was out after finishing his day job, and recovered the ring within about five minutes.
Mr Lee said: “It was unbelievable. I was so scared I actually lost it – we have only been married for two years.
“It probably saved my marriage.
“I could have got another wedding ring but it’s not the same because of its sentimental value.”
Mr Andrews said he enjoyed recovering items which had sentimental value, such as special rings or items that were linked to a loved one who has died.
He said he went out to find lost items in his spare time at all times of day, including at night, and in all weathers.
He said: “I’ve found items within seconds or as soon as I’ve turned my detector on, or in a couple of sweeps and found them straight away.
“Some of them I’ve found after nine hours of going back over multiple days, working with the tides as you get a window where you can search.
“There are a few that I have never found, and I would like to, but sometimes it just doesn’t work out, especially if they’re lost on the beach because it has such a big tidal range.
“And, with the weather, they can go deep and you’ll just never find them.”
Steven AndrewsMr Andrews has also recovered iPhones lost at sea at Grouville Bay, an Apple watch on the beach at St Brelade Bay, as well as Airpods from a patch of woodland at St Peter’s Valley.
He has even found a bracelet for a young woman who lost it while pier jumping at St Brelade’s Bay.
Mr Andrews said he recovered that by snorkelling at low tide and found it in the rocks at the base of the pillar.
“They’re not really jobs, they are little missions,” he said.