Tampa, Florida:
The idea behind the Tampa Women's Club charity event was simple. For 20 dollars, you could buy a flute of champagne and a chance to win a one-carat, 5,000 dollars diamond.
Organizers of the Saturday event placed 10 dollars cubic zirconia stones in the bottom of 399 of the 400 champagne glasses. The prized diamond, donated by Continental Wholesale Diamonds, was placed in the last.
The problem? Eighty-year-old Miriam Tucker accidentally swallowed it.
Tucker told local news media that she didn't want to put her finger in the champagne, so she drank a bit. While laughing with women at the table, she realized she swallowed it.
Embarrassed, she had to tell jewellers who were frantically searching for the winner.
Already scheduled for a colonoscopy on Monday, she had a doctor recover the jewel.