Consultant’s lost diamond ring makes 100-mile journey back to owner

A diamond ring journeyed nearly 100 miles from Suffolk to the Royal Free Hospital (RFH) in London, where it was “miraculously” found in a set of scrubs, much to the relief of its owner, Radhika Ramasamy, a consultant anaesthetist at the West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust in Bury St Edmunds.

The discovery was made by Suraj Shah, an anaesthetics registrar at RFH, who stumbled upon the ring in his green scrubs as he prepared for his ICU shift on December 19, a news report by RFH said.

According to the report, the ring fell to the floor as Shah was dressing, drawing the attention of a colleague who alerted him. Initially suspecting the ring belonged to a nurse at RFH, Shah made efforts to find its owner within the hospital.

However, when these attempts proved fruitless, he reached out to the hospital's facilities team for assistance.

Shah empathised with the potential loss, acknowledging the deep sentimental value such items hold, a sentiment fuelled by the thought of how his wife would feel under similar circumstances.

This understanding, coupled with the knowledge of how common it is for healthcare workers to remove jewellery during procedures, propelled him to act.

The connection was made when the RFH facilities team checked with their laundry service and found that a missing ring had been reported from Suffolk.

Radhika had placed the ring in her scrubs pocket before administering a spinal anaesthetic to a patient, only realising its absence five days later—the very day Shah found it.

She explained that she had intended to wear the ring again after the procedure, but a subsequent task made her forget.

It wasn't until the next evening that she noticed its absence, and by then, the weekend had arrived, delaying her report to the facilities team until Monday.

She said her expectations of recovery were low, fearing the ring would be lost in the laundry process.

Expressing her joy at the ring's return, Radhika said, “I’m so happy to have it returned. It just shows how honest people are and I want to say a huge thank you to all the people involved – my end at the West Suffolk Hospital and the Royal Free Hospital - in reuniting me with a ring that has real sentimental value to me as it was a birthday present from my husband a few years ago. I know it’s been an incredible team effort and I am so appreciative of how so many people have gone the extra mile to track me down and return it to me.”

Suraj on the other hand said, “It’s nice to feel part of a bit of a little miracle. I’m delighted the ring has been reunited with Radhika.”