Hamilton man reunites with lost ring after 47 years

A Hamilton man received quite the birthday gift this year: a ring he lost 47 years ago while on vacation in Barbados.

Alex Davis, a professional freediver, says, “I see this shiny gold band sticking out of the sand, and my eyes just sort of lit up. I had a brief moment where I kind of did the whole Lord of the Rings Gollum, you know, ‘Precious!’ after seeing that.”

Back in 1977, 83-year-old Morgan Perigo went on a trip with his family to Barbados.

Davis explains, “His son was knocked down by a wave, he went to grab his son, his son grabbed onto him, and as they’re pulling him up, the ring got knocked off his finger.”

Perigo believed his 1965 McMaster University Faculty of Science alumni ring was lost to the ocean for good, until 47 years later, in October of this year, when professional freediver Alex Davis was trying out a new underwater metal detector at Miami Beach in Barbados.

Davis says, “We had Hurricane Beryl hit the island about two months ago, and it kind of moved a lot of sand, stirred things up.”

It stirred things up enough to uncover the long-lost ring.

Using the engravings on the ring, Davis immediately contacted McMaster University, which then connected him with Perigo, who remembered losing the ring back in the 70s.

Davis adds, “I mean, I was born in 1990, I’m 34 years old, and that ring had been lost longer than I’ve been on this planet.”

Davis was able to ship the ring back to Perigo just in time for his 83rd birthday.

Davis recalls, “I gave him a call after my dive, wished him a happy birthday. He was super appreciative. He was wearing the ring. Ultimately, I think he was just dumbfounded. I think he had long forgotten about that ring and had long given up on it.”

In the end, Davis has some advice for people planning their next tropical getaway.

“Don’t go in the ocean with your jewelry, and if you do, pay the extra bit of money to get it personalized. Get some engraving done—something on there so that if someone like me finds it, we’ll have the opportunity to return it.”