Irish holidaymaker Patrick Mohr lost his gold wedding ring while playing with his children in a fast-flowing mountain stream in Italy. One of the children caught his hand, causing the ring to slip off. Mohr, who had been married for 16 years, felt deeply upset. His wife went downstream to ask three young Italian friends for help: Filippo Palagi, Nicola Malloggi and Edoardo Poggi.
Inspired by The Lord of the Rings, the friends promised to find the ring and bring it to Ireland. They initially searched from kayaks, but found nothing for two days. On the third day, they secured themselves to large rocks with ropes and used snorkelling equipment to search a particularly fast section of water. Malloggi noticed a flash of light in the sand. When he lifted a handful to the surface, the ring was there.
Mohr was with his family in Tuscany when a message arrived from an unfamiliar Italian number, showing a photograph of the ring. Rather than interrupt his holiday, the friends offered to deliver it to his home. They flew to Ireland and arrived dressed as hobbits, singing songs from the films. During their visit, they toured Glendalough and Glenmalure Valley and shared a traditional Irish dinner.
