What began as a routine medical visit turned into an unusual recovery mission at Grundy County Memorial Hospital in Iowa. Susan Sinnwell went to the hospital for an x-ray of her hand, which required that she remove the two heirloom rings she wore. The next day she realized that she may have thrown her grandparents’ wedding rings out by mistake. The rings, which had deep sentimental value, were wrapped inside a napkin and inadvertently tossed into a trash can. Sinnwell said she thought the napkin sounded funny when it hit the garbage, but she didn’t think anything of it. Once hospital staff learned that the rings were missing, maintenance crews began tracing the trash’s path, only to discover that the waste had already been compacted and mixed with days’ worth of garbage. Maintenance workers sifted through roughly 50-60 bags using metal detectors, separating anything that showed a signal. When that search failed, Craig Buskohl, Imaging Manager at the hospital, brought in a mobile x-ray unit and set it up in the hospital’s ambulance garage. Using the portable machine, staff x-rayed bag after bag. After about 35 images and 45 minutes of scanning, the rings finally appeared on screen. Sinnwell said she was overwhelmed by the effort hospital employees put into the search. Hospital officials said the recovery reflects their commitment to caring for patients beyond medical treatment.
