Posted on 09/13/2024 11:29:26 AM PDT by nickcarraway
South Carolina tourist’s marriage proposal in Times Square turned into a nightmare when he accidentally dropped the engagement ring down a sidewalk grate. Chasmon Wilson had planned to surprise his girlfriend of eight years, Kayla Pressley, with a $1,600 princess-cut diamond ring.
The mishap occurred on a rainy Saturday evening in March. Fortunately, New Yorkers came to his rescue, helping him retrieve the ring and get his proposal plans back on track, as reported by the New York Post.
Wilson recalled recently that he fumbled with the engagement ring, which fell through a sidewalk grate and landed 20 feet below on a trash-strewn ledge.
Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Kamala Harris causes surge in visits to voter registration sites “It was like everything moved in slow motion,” Wilson, 33, told The Post. “I was in disbelief that this is what we came to New York for and it fell through. I felt like the worst man on the planet Earth.”
Initially, Wilson intended to propose at One Vanderbilt, which is high above Midtown and has panoramic views. However, he changed his mind due to the large crowds and decided to propose in Times Square instead.
Pressley was unaware of Wilson’s surprise proposal as she was busy with their umbrellas when the ring fell.
“When I turn around, he’s on the ground looking with the flashlight on his phone,” Pressley, 29, said.
Initially, Wilson told her he had dropped the hotel key card. However, his dramatic reaction and frantic attempts to recover the item led Pressley to realize it was the engagement ring he had intended to use for his proposal.
By chance, a Consolidated Edison truck drove by, and Wilson managed to flag it down.
“We got out, we looked where he dropped his ring to see if it was a Con Ed structure, and what we found it was the [Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s] structure,” said Elvimar Rivas, a senior analyst at Con Ed.
Wilson wasn’t optimistic. “I knew we wouldn’t get that ring back,” Wilson said. “I said, ‘It’s over with.’
The next day, Wilson, Pressley, and their children, Grayson, 7, and Skylar, 6, returned to their hometown of Roebuck, SC, which has a population of 3,837. After the weekend, Rivas contacted the MTA and devised a plan to recover the ring, unbeknownst to the couple.
“It was in my head all weekend . . . he was broken-hearted,” Rivas, 40, recalled of Wilson.
A ten-person team was dispatched to address the situation: five to assess it and five to retrieve the ring from below Seventh Avenue near West 46th Street. The operation was conducted overnight to minimize disruption to pedestrians and traffic.
“It made my whole year, just being able to help somebody recover a ring, especially in Times Square,” Rivas said. “That’s near impossible to do.”
About a week later, Wilson was notified that the ring had been recovered. By the time it reached South Carolina, Wilson had already purchased a new, slightly different ring and proposed to Pressley on April 27.
He chose a more picturesque setting, proposing atop Stone Mountain in Cleveland, SC, instead of near a sidewalk grate. Pressley, a registered nurse, said, “Yes.”
The couple, who are religious, now believe that everything that happened was meant to be.
“I just felt it was all God’s timing,” said Pressley, who plans to keep both engagement rings.
To avoid any other mishaps, Wilson is taking a backseat until their special day on May 24, 2025.
“I’m not handling the wedding plans at all,” he said.
Man drops ring while about to propose.
If she doesn’t see that as a omen nothing will.
Cute story. Nice people.
I actually stopped reading at that point. I know it wasn’t part of the article, but it irritated me so much I went straight to comments. Saw yours, and now I am leaving the story behind.
Rivas the hero!
Who buys a 16k ring after a few kids? The committment was raising 3 kids!!!! Cannit get stronger than that!
No, it was $1,600, not $16k.
That's what he told her.
So ten people working hours to recover a $1600 ring? How stupid is that?
Then I read that the “religious couple” have two kids. I guess I assumed the wrong “religion.”
Does anyone do anything normal these days?
Mebbe they found religion recently and are getting married to sanctify their relationship and legitimize their children. Better than not doing it.
If they’ve been “together” for eight years, how would there be a six and seven year old from a prior “marriage” ?
You're not kidding. Might as well have proposed in a septic tank or the bilge of a garbage scow.
Grate balls of fire.
Ain't nobody got time for that.
I dropped my keys down an elevator shaft at the office, on a Friday evening, during a snow storm. Needless to say, I didn’t see my keys again until Monday.
Good point
“I’m afraid I’ll drop my keys”
I’ve been out of the Big Town since 1980 but I still handle my keys with one finger through the key ring.
It’s a tell. If they fall 86 stories down the elevator shaft it’s a problem.
You can take the boy out of New York, but you can’t take New York out of the boy.
Buy a quick cheap substitute from the “Cuts glass, cuts glass” guy. He’s right around the corner in Times Square.
Excuse me V, but you are wrong that knowing she was his girlfriend 7-8 years ago meant the kids were his and not from an earlier marriage or affair. One of the kids could have been an infant and the other 1 year old, when the two met 8 years ago. Which would account for their ages today and still be from another marriage.
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