Posted by Kayla Harrity on Saturday, August 22, 2015
"Will you marry..." *Splash*
Charlotte man Matthew Picca, 25, had planned a romantic wedding proposal to his longtime girlfriend, Kayla Harrity, 24. While vacationing with her and her family in Southpost, North Carolina, he would get down on one knee after they dined at the Old American Fish bar and restaurant, located right on the Intracoastal Waterway. He would pop the question and present her with a gorgeous engagement ring—a pear-shaped diamond, mounted in rose gold, according to The State Port Pilot.
But things didn't go as planned.
"Matthew got down on one knee at our favorite place in South Port tonight," Harrity said on Facebook, alongside photos of the moment. "Just as he opened the ring box, the ring fell out of the box and thru the crack on the deck."
"For the record, I didn't drop it," Picca told The State Port Pilot. The ring fell!"
"I didn't even get to see it," Harrity told the newspaper.
Posted by Kayla Harrity on Saturday, August 22, 2015
She told WBTV that she began to cry after the accident and that Picca did not even get to say anything to her before it happened. She said ran to nearby restaurants in search of flashlights and goggles and that her now-fiancé, her sister, her brother-in-law and several other people jumped into the water, fully clothed, to try to find the sparkler.
"It was so shelly, you could not determine a shell from a ring," Picca told The State Port Pilot.
Harrity told the outlet she jumped into the water as well and quickly got out when someone spotted a crab.
"I said, 'That's it. I'm done,'" she said, giggling.
A man named Kyle Blusher found the ring, prompting cheers from people at the bar.
"All of a sudden, everyone was chanting 'Propose again! Do it again!'" Harrity told WBTV. "It was the best feeling in the world. My fiancé, soaking wet, smelling like salty, fishing water, proceeded to get down on one knee and put the beautiful ring on my finger!"
"It took five men and my sister 1.5 hours to find the ring in that water," she said on Facebook. "But it was found and we are getting married! Thank you to the strangers who went searching in the water. If anyone has any pictures, please share them with us!"
She said the two then walked upstairs and bought shots for the men who helped search for the ring.
"Thank you to everyone who helped us find our engagement ring," she wrote on the Old American Fish's Facebook page. "Southport people are amazing!