Darling, who is from Kansas City, Missouri, said she was devastated when she realized she'd lost her ring.
She almost never takes it off, but it was giving her a bit of a rash so she did, zipping it in her coin purse for safe keeping.
Later, she absentmindedly emptied the contents of that purse into the collection cup of Billy Ray Harris, who is homeless and often stays under a bridge in Darling's hometown.
It wasn't until the next day that she realized her ring was gone.
"It was horrible. It was such a feeling of loss," Darling said. "It meant so much to me beyond just the financial value."
She went back to look for Harris, but he was gone. She returned the next day and found him.
"I asked him ... 'I don't know if you remember me, but I think I gave you something that's very precious to me,' and he says, 'Was it a ring? Yeah, I have it, I kept it for you,'" Darling said.
She was floored.
To show their appreciation, Darling and her husband set up an online fundraiser for Harris. The donations and praise have poured in.
"In life what goes around comes around... Billy - your sweet actions, despite being in dire straits yourself, prove that there is humility in the world... you are one shining example. Lots of love from across the pond," wrote Chris and Mel, from Brentwood, England, on the
giveforward.com site, which is collecting money. They gave $20.
"I am from Singapore and I greatly am grateful for your honesty!" wrote Ophelia Wong Zen-na, who gave $10.
Brian Paul also gave $10.
"If I wasn't jobless I would give much more, but felt compelled to do something. Billy Ray do your best to become what you've always dreamed you could be. Its never too late. God Bless and thanks for never loosing your character in tough times," he wrote.
So far, in about a week, more than 3,400 donations have been made, totaling nearly $95,000. The money will be given to Harris at the end of a 90-day campaign.
In an update Saturday, Darling's husband, Bill Krejci, called the response "unreal."
Krejci met with Harris to tell him about the flood of donations and to get to know him better. They went together to make some repairs to Harris' bike.
"We talked about a lot of things related to my family's ring and the many donations. We talked about one day in the future the ring may one day be passed down to my daughter," Krejci wrote on the website. "We talked about how insanely positive all this has been."
Harris told Krejci that he he has found a place to stay where he is "safe and sound."
CNN affiliate KCTV caught up with Harris and asked him how he felt about all the attention he's attracted since returning the ring.
"I like it, but I don't think I deserve it," he said.
KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) -
A woman trying to help out a homeless man on The Plaza ended up giving away a lot more than a little change. She accidentally gave him her
engagement ring
, but the twist to the story is what the man did with it.
People hearing this story might think the homeless man's luck would similar to winning the lottery - you live under a bridge, then, the next thing you know, you end up with platinum and diamonds. For some, it could be a life changer.
Billy Ray Harris got that change and then some last Friday.
"The ring was so big that I knew if it was real, it was expensive," Harris said.
He didn't notice it in his orange cup until almost an hour after its original owner unzipped her
wallet and dumped her change into it.
"My rings were bothering me, so I put them in my coin purse," Sarah Darling explained.
Darling said she didn't realize what she'd done until the next day.
"I was so incredibly upset because, more than just the value of the ring, it had sentimental value," she said.
Her high emotions were justified because the item she had accidentally dumped into Harris' cup along with her spare change was her engagement ring after all.
Harris didn't know that, but he knew plenty well how sentiment matters more than money.
"She squatted down like you did like right there and says ‘Do you remember me?' And I was like, ‘I don't know. I see a lot of faces.' She says, ‘I might have gave you something very valuable.' I said, ‘Was it a ring?' And she says, ‘Yeah.' And I said ‘Well, I have it,'" Harris said.
"It seemed like a miracle. I thought for sure there was no way I would get it back," Darling said.
Some may wonder, based on Harris' current situation, why he didn't just pawn it and start a new life.
"My grandfather was a reverend. He raised me from the time I was 6 months old and thank the good Lord, it's a blessing, but I do still have some character," he said.
"I think in our world we often jump to like the worst conclusion, and it just makes you realize that there are good people out there," Darling said.
Harris had lots of great lost and found stories to tell, including one that happened, a long time ago, during a Chiefs-Raiders game. There was a retired Raiders player in The Plaza with his friends. They'd been drinking, and he jumped into Brush Creek, that runs alongside the entertainment district. The retired player got out and told everyone he lost his Super Bowl ring in the creek. Harris found it, later, on the pavement here. He walked all the way over to the Intercontinental Hotel, where he figured they were staying, told the desk clerk and got it back to its owner. He got a generous reward that time and a three-night stay in the Rafael Hotel.
Darling also gave Harris a reward – she gave him all the cash she had in her wallet at the time.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/22/us/missouri-diamond-ring-returned/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/22/billy-ray-harris-donations_n_2743310.html
