Stunned paddleboarder, 39, who lost her phone at sea finds it nearly 500 days later after it washed ashore – and it STILL WORKS

• iPhone which was lost at sea washed ashore 460 days later still in working order 
• Clare Atfield dropped her iPhone while paddleboarding near coastal Hampshire
• The phone was in a waterproof phone bag but slipped beneath the waves 
• It was found by a dog walker on nearby Eastney beach completely undamaged 

A woman who lost her phone at sea couldn’t believe her luck when it washed ashore in working order some 460 days later.

Clare Atfield, 39, dropped her Apple iPhone 8+ while paddleboarding off the coast of her hometown of Havant, Hampshire.

She fell off her board on August 4, 2021 and didn’t realise her phone had slipped from the lanyard around her neck until long after it had sunk beneath the waves.

It was tucked into a waterproof phone bag, but Ms Atfield never expected to see the phone again. 

So when a local dog walker from nearby Eastney beach tracked Ms Atfield down 460 days later, claiming he had her phone, she was stunned.

Clare Atfield, 39, couldn’t believe her luck when the iPhone she lost in August 2021 washed ashore in November 2022

The phone was lost off the coast of her hometown of Havant, Hampshire and washed up at nearby Eastney beach (pictured)

Bank cards and a medical card with her mother’s phone number attached were still in the phone case and gave the Good Samaritan the clues he needed to find her.

He returned the phone on November 7.

Miraculously, the phone was still in good working order and while Ms Atfield had since replaced it, she was able to salvage precious photos and memories she’d long considered lost forever. 

She said: ‘It’s crazy that it still worked, but it works perfectly. It had not actually even travelled that far that far strangely.

‘It was quite far out to sea, but it was inside one of those phone protection cases which came with my paddleboard, so it must have sank and just stayed there.’

Ms Atfield said the back of the phone had completely shattered, making it even stranger water hadn’t managed to seep in. 

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

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

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