All News/Events

Headline/Event title: This Story Has A Nice Ring To It!

Date: April 02, 2006

Just when it seemed all hope was lost, a “miracle” occurred at Mount St. Mary's University.

A $15,000 engagement ring that had slipped off its owner's finger and found its way into the university sewage system on February 20 turned up a month later on a grate in the campus water treatment facility—fully intact.

Debbie Squiccimarri of Ramsey, N.J., was visiting the Mount with her daughter, sister, and niece at a Discovery Day Admissions program on February 20 when her engagement ring slipped off her finger and fell into an automatic flush toilet in the Mount’s student center. Squiccimarri's sister tracked down the Mount's Recruiting Director, Josh Ditsky, and told him what happened. Ditsky called Physical Plant for assistance and Physical Plant worker Ron Bledsoe attempted to recover it—removing the toilet from the wall and scanning the plumbing trap, but to no avail. Bledsoe, of Fairfield, Pa., promised a visibly distraught Squiccimarri that he would keep an eye out for it, although his words seemed to do little to comfort her.

But this story has a happy ending. A month later, on March 20, Bledsoe sought out Ditsky in the Admissions Office. “Ron walked into our office and says to me: ‘I'm supposed to talk to you about the woman who lost her ring,’” Ditsky recalled. “And then proceeds to pull it out of his shirt pocket.” Ditsky then called Squiccimarri to share the good news. “I guess this means I have to send my daughter (a high school junior) to Mount St. Mary's,” an ecstatic Squiccimarri joked to Ditsky. “When I returned home, everyone reiterated the same words Ron did, that the chances of finding the ring were slim to none. I had resigned myself to accepting that my ring was gone. “When Josh called, my reaction was total shock followed by an immediate sense of faith—in the fact that there are people in this world who are not only caring but honest,” Squiccimarri said. “Not only did Ron continue to look for my ring, but when found he was honest enough to return it. I cannot say enough about how thankful I am for his diligence and morality.”

Squiccimmarri met up with Bledsoe on campus March 27, where he returned the ring to its rightful owner—right where it belongs!