Eight ways to lose your wedding ring

The Donegal striker awaiting surgery in Galway

What is it about wedding rings?

Former Derry City striker Kevin McHugh's season looks to be over after a freak accident almost completely sliced off his finger.

He got his wedding ring caught in a fence and he severed his finger. But he drove himself to hospital and was due to have surgery on Thursday to re-connect his finger.

He also tweeted a graphic picture of his bloodied hand.

It was traumatic for him and for everyone else who saw it on Twitter.

But since we are on the subject of wedding rings, here are a few cautionary tales.

Consider it a list of what not to do - apart from the blindingly obvious - if you want to hold on to that ring...

1. Never, ever, ever take it off

Swedish woman Lena Paahlsson had given up all hope of finding her ring which went missing in the kitchen when she took it off (big mistake).

She was baking with her daughters when it disappeared - they even took the floor up in the hope of finding it.

Sixteen years later, she was pulling up carrots in her garden when she noticed a gold band on a large orange root vegetable.

It was, you might say, a "gold carat" moment.

2. Don't go swimming

Spanish couple Agustin Aliaga and his wife Juani Sanchez lost a wedding ring in 1979, just five months after they were married, while swimming near the Spanish resort of Benidorm.

Roll on 37 years and Jessica Nisos found it while diving. It was the ring engraved with the date of their wedding.

The happy couple - still together - were ecstatic.

They may have celebrate with a snorkel dive, but I doubt it.

3. Don't build the marital home

BBC News NI journalist Fiona Murray's father built the family home in County Down more than 40 years ago, shortly after her parents married.

It was, you might say, a labour of true love.

"My dad lost his ring in the foundations of the house," she said.

"They searched but never found it. My parents still live in that house and there is something lovely in thinking that my dad's gold wedding ring is buried deep in the foundations of their home."

4. Do not play golf

A close friend of a friend was playing golf shortly after his wedding and he took a long swing with the club.

Perhaps the ring was a little loose. Perhaps his style was not quite Rory McIlroy enough.

Whatever, it was a big swing and the ring flew from his finger and landed somewhere out in the long, long grass. It lies there still. He never found it.

When you're not Rory Mcilroy and you swing with your new wedding ring... be afraid, be very afraid

5. Avoid small children while wearing a wedding ring

Small children, like magpies, love shiny sparkly things. Unfortunately they are not equipped to know the difference between the Koh-i-noor and the dud in the party bag.

A source close to here removed his ring whilst playing with his small son.

It was to be 10 days and an endless number of games of "Hunt the wedding ring" later before the small child confessed that he had hidden it.

Phew!

6. Do not pick potatoes

Brenda Caunter did that when she was a new bride. It was back in the 1970s and she and her husband searched the four-acre field where she lost it, time and time again.

But a local metal detector enthusiast found it after a few hours. After nearly half a century they got the ring back - it was the second happiest day of their lives.

7. Do not feed your horse wearing your ring

The salutary story of the woman who lost her ring while feeding her horse is worth remembering.

She eventually recovered the item after a suitable time frame for equine digestion and excretion.

A little professional cleaning was needed too.

The lesson is never to go near animals wearing your ring.

8. The beach

Sun cream and rings do not mix. Sun cream, rings and miles of sandy beach are a recipe for true disaster. Remember this.

Bill Owens lost his father's ring at the beach in Bournemouth in 2013 when a big wave washed over him and the ring was gone. But all was not lost. Watch Bill's heartrending reaction.

And finally - in the extensive research needed to bring your this article, it became apparent that the sex most likely to lose a wedding ring was male.

I wonder why...