The kindness of strangers shone through after a newlywed lost his ring whilst saving a drowning child.

Tom Maxwell-Johnson leapt to the rescue after noticing a little boy struggling to swim in the lake at South Park, having run off from his family.

Unfortunately, during the incident on Sunday (August 24) Tom lost his wedding ring.

His wife of three weeks, Emma, said: "It was like a horror film watching this little boy's ginger hair sink lower and lower into the water.

"There was no life ring or anything we could see in that moment.

"Then my husband sprinted round the corner, chucked his phone on the side and just waded through the bushes straight into water."

She added: "It was a complete accident as the little boy had wriggled free from the grandma and thought it was a game.

"I hope his family are doing okay as it was such a traumatic incident for them."

Tom lost his wedding ring by the lake at South Park, just three weeks after his wedding day (Credit: Emma Maxwell-Johnson)

After pulling the boy to safety, Tom realised his wedding ring had fallen off.

"We were both in shock for the rest of the day," Emma said.

"Tom was very shaken by the incident and didn't even notice his legs – they were bleeding as he had cut them on brambles and nettles."

Emma's mum, Kim Maxwell, took to social media that evening to see if anyone had equipment to help locate the ring.

Up stepped metal detectorists, Tony Jackson and Karl Forrester.

Emma said: "They love going out to places to search for historical items such as old coins and Roman buttons etc., so they had all the right gear.

"They saw it as a challenge and were really keen to look for it out of the goodness of their hearts.

"When we got there, the two men just jumped in happily and started searching with metal detectors and sieves. It was incredible.

"After seven minutes, Karl just says very casually 'found it!' And Tom and I both burst into tears."

Metal detectorists Tony Jackson and Karl Forrester came to the rescue (Credit: Emma Maxwell-Johnson)

Emma continued: "We were so grateful and couldn't believe that these two complete strangers wanted to help us.

"A wedding ring is only a material item so we would have accepted its loss, but it's even more special now."

Upon revisiting the park, Emma noticed numerous holes in the fence surrounding the lake.

Her mum has since reported this to Cheshire East Council, who have said they will be visiting the park to assess the fences and look to put up temporary fencing.

"We are very happy with that outcome and that something is being done, as the fencing really does need fixing," Emma said.

"We are also very happy to have the ring back as we are due to go on our honeymoon in ten days' time and Tom said it would've felt strange going without it!

"We cannot thank the lovely men enough for helping us."

The council will visit South Park to asses the fencing and put a temporary solution in place (Credit: Emma Maxwell-Johnson)