LI Woman Thanks Nurses Who Went Dumpster Diving For Lost Rings

BAY SHORE, NY — A trio of nurses went above and beyond to help a patient who lost her wedding rings in Bay Shore earlier this week.

When Karen Smith went in for a procedure at Northwell Health on Brentwood Road on Tuesday, she worried about a lot of things, but not about losing her rings.

However after the procedure, she went home and straight to bed, not realizing she had forgotten her wedding rings, which she put in a ziplock bag with her name on it before the procedure.

"When I was done with the procedure, I felt great and I just wanted to get out of there," she told Patch. "I got dressed, threw [out] the bigger clear bag on my bed, never looking at the bottom for my rings."

After realizing she lost her rings, she left a panic message at the office. Someone from the office called her back around 7 a.m. the following morning, to tell her they got the message but all garbage was taken out the night before. The trash was still in the dumpster, but the truck was on its way to pick it up.

Smith asked them to stop the truck and quickly grabbed her son to run back to the office and try to salvage her rings. She was almost there when the office called her back to tell her the three nurses went dumpster diving and found her rings before the truck arrived, keeping them safe and sound.

"I'm forever grateful and thankful for getting my rings back," she said. "Any material things can be replaced, but my rings have over 30 years of sentimental value."

To thank the three, Smith sent them flowers and cookies.