Sunday, January 21, 2007

Ring found after 9 months

An Australian man who lost his wedding ring while swimming near an Indonesian island last April was reunited with it nine months later thanks to a tenacious Indonesian guide who had promised to search for it.

Keith Kimmons, 53, lost his ring while snorkeling with his son near a remote coral reef off the island of Sepa, a tourist destination in the Thousand Islands archipelago a few dozen kilometres from Jakarta.

"As I was getting out of the water I realised that I had lost my wedding ring. I was devastated," Mr Kimmons said, who was married in 1975.

"The atoll was as big as a small football field," he said, explaining the difficulty of trying to find his ring.

A local named Jamhuri, who acted as their guide, promised to keep looking for it every time he returned to the reef.

"I thought what do I have to lose? I gave him my business card," Mr Kimmons said, who works in the Indonesian capital.

Months passed and Mr Kimmons was unaware that Jamhuri was still searching for his ring every time he took tourists out to the reef.

Last week a storm disturbed some of the coral. Jamhuri went for another look and finally found the ring.

He sent Mr Kimmons a text message telling him the good news and met him in Jakarta to reunite him with his wedding ring.

"I met him on Monday. I gave him a reward. I had to force him because he did not want to take it," a very pleased Mr Kimmons said.

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