'Hero' Felixstowe Beach sweeper finds Mildenhall woman's lost engagement ring

A woman has been reunited with her engagement ring which she lost in Felixstowe thanks to a 'hero' beach sweeper.

Theresa Mueller, 26, from Mildenhall, was visiting the coastal town with her sister and her sister's children on Sunday when she lost her engagement ring on the beach.

She said the ring had been her fiancé's grandmother's ring and was 'heartbroken' by its loss.

Theresa said: "His grandmother had given him the ring when we were home for Christmas.

"Losing it was incredibly stressful. I didn't realise it was gone until my way back to Mildenhall.

"We searched high and low for the ring, in our house, our car - I figured I'd lost it in the water."

The family had been on the beach near St Edmund's Church when it was lost.

She put out an appeal on Facebook for the precious item.

It had been missing for almost a full day before it was found on the beach by a man with a metal detector who contacted her.

Theresa, who had the ring delivered to her in Mildenhall, added: "I felt as if there was no hope, so when I got the message that it had been found I was shocked.

"Meeting him today, for him to return it to me, I felt like I could breathe again - I was beyond happy."

In a Facebook post made after the ring was recovered, she said: A huge shoutout to [the sweeper] for not just finding my ring but also being honest enough to give it back.

"You are my hero. Again a big 'thank you' to everyone who went out of their way to help."

The Beach Sweeper, who wished to remain anonymous, said he came across Theresa's posts on social media and decided to try and help out.

He wanted to make an attempt to help her out, even through two others with metal detectors had failed to find her ring.

He added: "I hit the beach at 5.30am Tuesday, 2 days after it was lost, and found it within an hour of hunting for it.

"I then contacted Theresa to say I found it and I arranged to drive it out to her at her home address.

I could not have asked for a better outcome. It’s always rewarding to find valuable items after hours and hours of metal detecting and it’s heartwarming when they can successfully be returned to the rightful owners."

He uploaded a video of him finding the ring to TikTok.