July 21, 2000

Mary McAuley, RN, left, a nurse on Blake 7, was working the night shift June 29 in the ICU, when something unexpected happened. McAuley was treating a patient, and family members and friends had come to visit.

"One of the women who was visiting was wearing the most beautiful diamond ring," says McAuley. "You couldn't help but notice it."

When the woman went to leave the MGH, she noticed her diamond had fallen out of its setting. "It was about 3:30 am when the woman came back up to the ICU. She was frantic. I went to get Gracie Ischia [RN], and we searched everywhere, even the elevators."

The diamond was nowhere to be found on Blake 7 or the elevators or the Main Lobby. It wasn't until McAuley was walking through the Main Corridor to the White elevators that she noticed a sparkle in the corner of the hallway. "I couldn't believe I found it," says McAuley. "It was just a stroke of luck."

McAuley was rewarded with $20, which she used to buy bagels and coffee for the ICU staff that morning. If not for McAuley taking time out of her hectic schedule in the ICU, the diamond may have never been found.