After a tornado hit Lamar County, Texas, and caused a lot of damage, a man was sad that he lost his girlfriend’s engagement ring before he could put it on her finger. He didn’t know that he would soon find the ring under the debris, against all odds.

Dakota Hudson, who lives in Lamar County, Texas, was in his house on November 4, 2022, when an EF-4 tornado destroyed many homes in the area. He had planned to ask his girlfriend Lauren Patterson to marry him, but a natural disaster made that impossible.

It was scary to hear the wood around them creak and break into pieces. The man and woman held on to each other and prayed that the tornado wouldn’t kill them. The winds stopped blowing soon after, but the couple had lost everything, including a valuable engagement ring.

Engagement Ring
Before the tornado, Hudson bought Patterson an engagement ring. He hid it in their house and waited for the right time to propose. But when the tornado hit their neighborhood, the ring was the last thing on his mind.

“It’s hard to imagine how anyone could make it through this destruction,” Hudson said. When he went to check on his neighbors, all he could see were piles of trash. Everyone in his area was safe, but most of them had lost their things.

Sudden Realization
Hudson felt better when he found out that everyone in his neighborhood was okay. He was glad that the tornado didn’t kill anyone nearby. Just then, he realized that the gold ring he had bought for Patterson was now somewhere under the mess.

Hudson thought it was almost impossible to find the ring, so he was surprised when the girls’ team did.
Since he had no chance of getting the ring back, he told Patterson he was going to ask her to marry him. Instead of being sad, the woman told him not to worry and told him that everything was fine.

They were willing to help.
Hudson and Patterson lost everything on that bad night, so they moved into a hotel until they could figure out how to rebuild their house. Four days after the tornado hit Lamar County, a group of volunteers went to the couple’s destroyed home.

The softball team from Paris Junior College asked Hudson and Patterson if they needed help picking up the trash. The couple accepted the help of the volunteers and told them about the missing ring. Kate Rainey, a team member, said:

“I pretty much made up my mind. I planned to look for the ring.”

The Operation to Look for
After digging at the same spot for hours, Rainey found a small round object. When she looked into it more, she found out that it was the same engagement ring Hudson had been looking for. Rainey said:

“Everyone on the team started to scream.”

Hudson thought it was almost impossible to find the ring, so he was surprised when the girls’ team did. When he held the ring in his hand, he knew right away what to do next.

He had no more time to waste.
The man knew he couldn’t waste any more time after he lost the ring once. Dusty and dirty, Hudson got down on one knee and asked his girlfriend, “Will you marry me?”

“Do you want to marry me?”

Patterson said yes right away, and the two of them kissed as the volunteers cheered for them. One of the girls also took a video of the unusual proposal, which was posted to the team’s Twitter page.

An Unforgettable Moment
Hudson had never thought he would propose to his girlfriend while standing on the ruins of their house, but Patterson said she “couldn’t have asked for a better proposal.” On the other hand, Hudson said:

“God gets all the credit.”

Patterson said that the proposal was “the light in a very dark moment,” but she was still worried about the people who lost their things in the tornado.

Everyone Had a Good Time
On Twitter, the softball team congratulated the couple who just got engaged. One of the members agreed that what they saw that afternoon was “remarkable.” The team’s Twitter account had another post that said:

“Did what seemed impossible! [sic]”

Hudson thought that “God had his hand” on his neighbors because no one died in the tornado. He thought the storm was strong enough to kill people, but it only destroyed homes.

We hope that the tornado’s damage in Lamar County can be fixed soon, and we wish Hudson and Patterson happiness for the rest of their lives. Congratulations to the couple who just got engaged!

Click here to read another story about a man who proposed to his girlfriend of five years with a $20,000 ring, but she didn’t like it and asked him to buy another one.