Woman reunited with iPhone she lost at sea a year ago

A woman who lost her iPhone at sea was stunned when it washed ashore in full working order a year later.

Clare Atfield, 39, dropped her iPhone 8 plus after falling from her paddleboard off the coast of Havant, Hampshire, on 4 August last year.

The Apple smartphone sunk under the waves and she thought she would never see it again.

But incredibly she was reunited with the device 460 days later on 7 November this year after it was found by a local dog walker.

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The iPhone washed up on nearby Eastney beach completely undamaged after Clare placed it in a waterproof phone bag.

The dog walker located her using her mum’s contact details which were on a medical card in the case.

Clare, from Havant, said: "It's crazy that it still worked, but it works perfectly.

''It had not actually even travelled that far strangely."

Clare said she always kept her phone around her neck when she went paddleboarding before work in the morning.

She realised her phone was gone after falling and hopping back on to the paddleboard.

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Clare added: ''I can’t believe it still works. The back of the phone is completely smashed, so you would have thought water would have got in. It’s mad he managed to find it.

"Both I and the gentleman who found it were completely in shock."

Clare has bought a new phone but she was delighted to be able to retrieve pictures stored on her old device.

She said: ''I’m stunned more damage wasn’t caused to it, especially how rough the sea can get down there, it’s mad.

''I never thought I would have seen it again, or for it to be working.’'