Oops: Tampa woman accidentally swallows $5,000 diamond at charity event

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Jacqueline Ingles, WFTS




TAMPA, Fla. - A $5,000 diamond meant to make its way on to a necklace or set on a ring made its way into an 80-year-old woman's belly instead.

The Tampa Woman's Club held an event over the weekend where they poured 400 flutes of champagne. Inside each flute was a cubic zirconia, and one of the flutes contained a $5,000 diamond donated by Continental Wholesale Diamond.

"We were laughing and I wasn't paying attention and I took a swallow," said Miriam, who declined to give her last name.

After patrons finished their drinks, the real diamond was nowhere to be found.

"We were going table to table," explained Andrew Meyer, a partner at Continental Wholesale Diamond. "There were 400 flutes so were going quickly table to table and in the end there was no diamond."

Then, an elderly woman came forward and said she accidentally swallowed what was in her flute.

"I thought someone will win this and I won't have to tell them," Miriam explained.

Miriam immediately went to an area hospital for an x-ray only to find out diamonds don't show up on x-ray.

The very next day, Miriam went in for a routine colonoscopy. When she arrived at the doctor's office she gave him some special instructions.

"Be on the lookout for it in case," she recalled telling her doctor.

Her doctor ended up finding the elusive diamond.

"We still had to find out if indeed that was the winning diamond," Miriam said.

On her way home, Miriam stopped by the jewelry store to have the diamond tested.

"She came with it in a bio-hazard bag and it wasn't even cleaned," said Joy Pierson, the store's other partner.

Once the diamond was washed and then steamed it was tested.

"Turned out to be The Real McCoy," Miriam said.

Miriam has decided to keep the diamond in her family, not literally of course, as a heirloom that comes with a great story.

[deebakes]

she swallows