The couple’s engagement ring; Cleveland firefighters work to retrieve the ring from a sewer drain.Photo:Emily Ruth Photography |emilyruthphoto.com|@emilyruthphoto
Emily Ruth Photography |emilyruthphoto.com|@emilyruthphoto
A bride’s worst nightmare came true during herengagement shoot.
Niki Mack and Corey Berebitsky were all smiles while taking their engagement photos at the Italian Cultural Garden in Cleveland on Nov. 24. It was their third attempt at a photo shoot due to the city’s unpredictable weather, so they were grateful for the “beautiful fall day.” But their smiles soon turned into frowns when Mack’s diamond engagement ring fell down a sewer drain.
At the start of the shoot, the Lakewood-based couple’s wedding photographer,Emily Ruth, noticed that Berebitsky had something on the back of his pants, so Mack went to clean it.
Niki Mack and Corey Berebitsky.Emily Ruth Photography |emilyruthphoto.com|@emilyruthphoto
“My fiancée went off to wipe off whatever was on my pants, and as she was doing so there was atingsound and she looked down and the ring was not on her hand,” Berebitsky tells PEOPLE.
“Niki was surprisingly calm,” Berebitsky recalls of his fiancée’s reaction. “Myself, the first thing that goes through my head is, ‘Oh my God, we’ve been pushing off the ring resizing for so long, and of course this happens.'”
Niki Mack’s ring.Emily Ruth Photography |emilyruthphoto.com|@emilyruthphoto
Mack remained calm because she could still see her ring in the drain. Meanwhile, Berebitsky says his “heart dropped” and he internally panicked about how they were going to get it out.
This ring isn’t replaceable — it’s priceless to the couple because the diamond baguettes on the side came from both their grandmother’s rings.
“Money is one thing. You lose it, the insurance can pay for it or whatever,” Berebitsky says. “But you can’t get the diamonds back from family.”
The couple called the nonemergency number for help. Members of Cleveland Fire Station 30 came out less than 10 minutes later to help retrieve the ring from the sewer.
Cleveland firefighters begin the process of retrieving the ring.Emily Ruth Photography |emilyruthphoto.com|@emilyruthphoto
“They were extremely helpful and able to get the ring out,” Berebitsky says. “I personally could not watch as they pulled it up just for fear it was going to fall [back] down. But they were very calm and confident.”
The firefighters weren’t sure if they would be able to quickly lift the grate off the drain, so they decided to use a metal rod to fish the ring out. In about five minutes, the ring came out, good as new.
“It was actually extremely sparkly,” Berebitsky notes. “It’s like the sewer water cleaned it.”
The ring is fished out of the drain using a metal rod.Emily Ruth Photography |emilyruthphoto.com|@emilyruthphoto
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To thank the firefighters for their help in reuniting them with the ring, the couple plans to send them a gift.
Mack and Berebitsky — who met on the dating app Hinge in November 2021 and got engaged at Lakewood Park — plan to celebrate their wedding in October 2025.
In the meantime, they have finally taken care of that important to-do list item: The ring is currently at the jewelry store being resized.
source: people.com
