A COUPLE have been left heartbroken after the diamond ring commemorating their hospital bedside wedding ceremony was lost.

Jane Barker, 37, had to remove her wedding band when she was rushed to Royal Blackburn Hospital with an ectopic pregnancy — which would have been the couple's first child.

Husband Neil, 38, put the ring in his pocket for safe keeping but after taking his mobile out to make calls to concerned relatives he discovered that the treasured piece of jewellery had vanished.

The couple, from Ennerdale Avenue, Blackburn, had won the eight-carat white gold, half carat diamond ring in a Lancashire Telegraph competition after the tale of their romantic journey touched the hearts of judges.

The Barkers were reunited 12 years ago, having separated as childhood sweethearts.

Neil, a former kitchen fitter, was then diagnosed with cardio-myopathy, a serious genetic heart condition.

Following a severe attack, his organs began to fail and doctors at Royal Blackburn Hospital gave him just hours to live.

Preparations were being put in place for Neil to be read his last rites when Janet quickly proposed to him. They married at his hospital bed, with Neil surrounded by life-savi ng equipment.

Neil told the judges that Janet's love had given him the strength he needed to fight back and, although he must take numerous tablets every day, he is able to manage his condition.

Neil’s mother, Jean Barker, said: “They are both inconsolable about losing the baby. Losing the ring has just compounded their misery.

“They have been through so much. Everyone is feeling their pain.”

She added: “Neil thinks that the ring dropped out of his pocket near the hospital entrance as he made the phone calls.

"He has been back time and time again and hunted high and low but has not been able to find it.

"We are hoping that someone may have picked it up and, once they realise what tragedy these two have been through, they will return it.”