Workers dig through trash to find valuable jewelry

ORLANDO, Fla. - Walt Disney World makes wishes come true for so many visitors every year however in this case it was not your typical wish. Disney staff worked its magic on a Massachusetts couple who accidentally threw away three platinum and diamond wedding rings.

While tidying up their villa as they prepared to leave the park late last week, Paul Campanale dumped a cardboard bowl, not knowing the container inside it held his wife Karen’s engagement, wedding and five-year-anniversary rings.

Park employees knew recovering the jewelry was all but impossible so informed the couple the chances were slim and unlikely they would see their jewelry again. So on Friday, the Campanales and their two children loaded onto a Magical Express bus and headed to the airport destined for home.

Back at the Wilderness Lodge resort, executive housekeeper Drew Weaver realized that trash from the Campanales’ villa had not yet reached the industrial-size compactor. He and seven other volunteers donned protective clothing, emptied a parking lot bin and waded through bag after bag of rubbish to find the rings. And they did.

Paul Campanale, 37, a chemist, received the good news on his cell phone and Weaver met the family to deliver the rings. Karen Campanale, 35, a teacher, said she was shocked by the find.

“That’s not the first time we’ve gone through trash — oh, no,” Weaver said. “We don’t always find things. Many times we come up empty. But we didn’t this time.”

Kindness in Motion Team

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