Sanitation workers dig through garbage, find woman's cash

Bags of garbage are seen on a sidewalk near a Metro underground entrance during a strike by rubbish collectors in Paris, France, October 7, 2015. Garbage bins accumulate along sidewalks as half of the districts in the French capital are affected by the strike which started on Monday. REUTERS/Jacky Naegelen - RTS3E97 (Reuters)

LONG BEACH, N.Y. – A Long Island woman was reunited with $5,000 in cash that she accidentally threw in the trash thanks to a little luck and the diligence of several sanitation workers.

Forty-five-year-old Krishna Nadalall says his mother, Bayban, had set aside an envelope containing the cash for her mortgage payment but she couldn't find it Tuesday morning.

Hysterical over the loss, the Long Beach woman called Nadalall to report that she mistakenly threw the money away.

Nadalall, a sanitation worker himself, gathered three co-workers to help sift through the loads of trash compiled at the Merrick Transfer Station.

The group was able to recoup all but $40 of the money after some of the bills fell out of the envelope along the way.

Bayban offered a reward to the men, but they refused.