Three Italians dived for an Irishman’s lost wedding ring, then flew to Ireland dressed as hobbits to return it

Patrick Mohr is from Ireland. He has been married for 16 years. This summer he was on holiday in Italy with his family.

His children were jumping off a boulder into a mountain stream, and he was catching them. One of them grabbed his hand. His gold wedding ring slipped off and was gone in the fast water.

I just stood there a little bit paralyzed with instant knowledge it’s gone.Patrick Mohr, to CBC’s As It Happens

Three men at the river

His wife did not give up. The only other people at the river were three Italian men. She asked if they had swimming goggles. They did not. So she asked them to help, and they swapped phone numbers.

The three were Filippo Palagi, Nicola Malloggi and Edoardo Poggi. They did not think they would find it either. To cheer Patrick up, they joked that they would go on a quest for the ring, like in The Lord of the Rings.

The search

For two days they searched from a kayak. Then they roped themselves to boulders and dived in masks, in the rapids where the current was strongest.

Malloggi saw a glint on the riverbed. He reached down and picked it up. It was the ring.

Nine days after he lost it, Patrick was cooking pasta when a text came from a number he did not know. It was a photo of his ring.

Hi Sméagol, look what we found.The text from the three Italians

I put the phone back in my pocket and kept stirring the pasta pot in shock.Patrick Mohr

The hobbits

The three did not just post it back. They flew to Ireland to hand it over, dressed as the hobbits Frodo, Merry and Sam, with music from the films playing.

Patrick took them to Glendalough and the valley of Glenmalure, then to his local pub for a pint of Guinness, then home for dinner with his family.

Before that, we never knew each other, but now, we have a family in Ireland.Filippo Palagi

Sometimes you have to put things out into the universe and ask for help. And sometimes, you get an answer.Patrick Mohr