Don Walling told NBC's 'Today' show that he and his girlfriend, Gina Pellicani, had gone to dinner with family to celebrate his 29th birthday. He suggested a stroll across the bridge's pedestrian walkway. With all of Manhattan before them -- and with a relative videotaping the event -- he took to one knee to ask her hand in marriage.
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That's about the time he opened the box.
Determined to save her ring, he scaled the side of the bridge as motorists, thinking he was suicidal, begged him not to jump. A police suicide-prevention van pulled up.
"I just kept telling them, 'I need to get that ring. I have to get that ring,'" Walling told NBC.
The cops stopped traffic, and with help from the family yelling down the ring's location from their walkway perch, Walling reclaimed the prize.
The platinum band was damaged, but the stones were fine. And the story has a very happy ending. The couple, both public school teachers, are planning an April 24 wedding.
"He does crazy things all the time, but this is definitely the craziest thing he’s ever done," Pellicani told NBC.
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Stories That Made Us Smile
Japan's railway company Keihin Express Railway Co. employee Mitue Endo, 26, stares at the smile meter to measure her smile at Tokyo's Shinagawa Station on July 23. The electronic system comprised of a computer and a digital camera is being used on a trial basis to improve customer service.
Junji Kurokawa, AP
Junji Kurokawa, AP
