So the old saying goes, “finders keepers” – but not in this instance.
Early Friday morning Christine Hylands met 12-year-old Harley Shinde, with her mother Tanya Shinde, for the first time to express her gratitude to the young girl who found Hylands’ missing diamond at the bottom of the Al Anderson Pool in Langley.
“I’m really really thankful for you finding this because its the engagement ring my husband gave me, it’s been 15 years,” Hylands said.
She said she first noticed the diamond was missing from her engagement ring when she turned the steering wheel of her car and thought something doesn’t look right.
“On Aug. 9, I discovered in the afternoon that the diamond from my engagement ring fell out, and I had no idea where it could possibly be,” she said.
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Earlier that day Haylands recounts going for a swim at the pool, taking her dog to the vet and walking a trail, so she wasn’t sure where it could have fallen out.
She put the word out to her friends at the pool including Grayson Mead, a lifeguard at Al Anderson.
“We put our pool-vacs in every night… so I don’t know how it didn’t get sucked up,” said Mead.
Harley found the diamond on Aug. 18 during a public swim, but said she wasn’t sure what she had found until she showed the diamond to Mead.
“He took it from me and ran,” she said, pointing at Mead.
Harley was at a loss for words when asked how she felt after hearing what the ring meant to Hylands.
“I don’t know,” she said.
“[When] she told me that they had found the owner, she said I’m happy that it got back to the right person – that’s what she told me,” said Tanya.
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Hylands said she’s grateful for the experience.
“It brought out a huge community… it actually showed me what kind of community Al Anderson Pool is,” she said.
Meanwhile, for the remainder of the day, Harley will be at the PNE with her sister and mom “[riding] all the big rides,” thanks to Hylands, who gifted her passes to the park as a thank-you, before Harley resumes school at H.D. Stafford next week.
joti.grewal@blackpress.ca
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