A Scottish woman says she had a 'cinderella moment' after she lost her the diamond from her beloved engagement ring.
Lorna McColl, 44, was enjoying an evening out in the Morningside area of Edinburgh with her mum earlier on January 9. They were enjoying a dinner and cocktails when she looked down at her hand and noticed her engagement ring was missing the diamond.
Speaking to Edinburgh Live, the reflexologist from West Linton explained how she didn't think much of it at the time. They had been at a funeral in the morning and by the night came she admitted she was feeling tipsy.
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"I just thought it was on me somewhere, I thought 'I'd deal with this later," Lorna said. However, when she got home she soon realised it was nowhere to be seen.
The mum-of-three said: "I got home, I checked in my boots and I couldn't find it. I thought I'd deal with it in the morning but then I woke up at 3am and that was me, I couldn't get back to sleep. I couldn't stop thinking about it. I was so upset.
"My husband Michael is a very calm man and he was like 'that's a shame but these things happen."
However, her faith in humanity was restored and she praised the power of social media when she had a 'Cinderella moment' when a stranger spotted a sparkling jewel on the Edinburgh streets.
Lorna said: "Me and my mum went back to Morningside the next day to try and find and couldn't find a thing. The streets in Morningside are so clean! My mum was just going around picking up bits of glass, it was really like looking for a needle in a haystack.
"So when we couldn't find it, I thought I better go to the insurance company but when we got engaged it was Dubai and we picked out a ring in the Maldives so I never actually got it valued.
"The only other thing I could think of was posting in local Edinburgh Facebook groups, just on the off chance.
"Then last Tuesday (January 17), a nice lady messaged me to say she thinks she found my diamond after seeing the post on Facebook. She found it outside La'Telve, which was ages away from where we were. Thing is the diamond is tiny, it's half a carat but it's very clear."
She added: "My husband said he was about 60 per cent sure it was my diamond, but I was 100 per cent sure, I know it, I've looked at it so often, I know every bit of it.
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The 44-year-old explained how Elizabeth, the woman who found it, took it home, put it in water to see if it was a real diamond - if it sinks it's genuine - and took photos next to coins to show the size. Once Lorna confirmed it was hers they chose to meet up in Morningside Library.
"I suppose because it was a public place, I didn't know who she was, she didn't know me, we could be anyone! But my mum was so funny. Her and her partner came with me and was hiding behind the bookshelves to make sure it was all okay, like they were my body guards or something! I'm in my 40's but I suppose I'm still her wee girl."
But Lorna's mum had nothing to worry about. Elizabeth arrived with the diamond and placed it in the ring.
"It was a perfect fit! It was like Cinderella, it was amazing! It really showed how kind people are and the power of social media."
Lorna and Michael met in 2009 and got engaged while on holiday in Dubai in 2012 and were married by December of that year.
"Social media drives me nuts in so many ways but at the same time it's just so powerful. I don't know how many times my post was shared but I even had a couple of friends out looking in Morningside for me - It's just so nice.
"Elizabeth went out of her way to get in touch and meet me which was really nice. When there is so much bad news out there, it's nice to see people doing good things."
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