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An Indonesian refuse collector, Harianto, made a discovery that changed his life five years ago while he was rummaging through a partially burnt pile of rubbish, Indonesian news outlet Suara reported.

Thought ring was "worthless"

Initially, when the 34-year-old found a ring, he thought that it was not worth anything.

He then consulted his family and friends. "They told me it's a diamond ring," he said.

Describing the ring, Harianto said it could fit on his ring finger, and the diamond was the size of a corn kernel.

Suara reported that the next day, Harianto sold off the ring to a collector at Sawojajar, in the city of Malang in East Java, as recommended by his friends and family.

Ring valued at S$7,620

To his surprise, the ring that he initially thought to be worthless actually had a real diamond.

The collector bought the ring for Rp. 80 million (S$7,620).

"I was shocked that the value was Rp. 80 million," Harianto said. "In the end, I sold it off. It was really unexpected."

Bought a house and proposed to girlfriend

With the cash he had from selling the ring, the next day, Harianto built a house not far from his parents' house.

"Thank God. I was not able to buy a house before this. Now I can afford my own house," he said.

Not only that he used the money to build a house, Harianto also mustered up the courage to propose to his girlfriend.

"We were attached not too long ago but I did not have the confidence to propose to her. However, after I bought the house, I immediately proposed to my girlfriend," Harianto said as reported by Suara.

The couple currently has three kids.

Guns, gold and babies found

According to Suara, Harianto said that he is satisfied with his job and life, even if "it is dirty", referring to his job as a refuse collector.

Other than finding a diamond ring, Harianto also shared some of the other bizarre things that he and his colleagues had found while working as used items collectors, Suara reported.

He shared they had come across guns and newborn babies in piles of rubbish.

There were also times they found gold as well.

"That's just luck," he added. "The collectors had no intention to find all these in the first place."

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