An adventure-seeker was left stunned after pictures from the digital camera she lost in a river 13 years ago were posted on Facebook by a total stranger.
Coral Amayi was tubing down the Animas River in Colorado with her friends when her precious camera fell into the water, taking with it pictures of her dog, a wedding, her friend's young baby and snaps with close friends.
See some of the recovered images below:
She was convinced she'd never see it again and that remained true for more than a decade, until fisherman Spencer Greiner took a trip to the same river last month.
Greiner spotted the camera by the rapids and despite being rusty and covered in mud, the memory card still held all of the memories Amayi had lost all those years earlier.
Advert
The fisherman decided to share some of the photos in a Facebook group for Durango, Colorado, using some of the context clues from the photos to call out to the bride and groom of a wedding featured among the snaps.
"Did you get married on June 12th 2010 in the Durango area?," he wrote. "Do you recognise any of these people? If so please contact me."
Within an hour, Greiner had a message from the groom at the wedding, and Amayi was alerted to the fact her camera had been found.
Advert
She was in the bathroom at a conference centre when she found out, telling Today she was 'dancing around while washing [her] hands'.
"I just needed to tell somebody right away," she said. "In the next breakout session, none of my coworkers were there so I started up a conversation with somebody and told them the story because I just had to get it out. It was too wild."
Advert
Amayi couldn't remember exactly what photos had been on the camera, and was brought to tears as she looked through the old times.
"I cried the most when I saw the pictures of my dog, I've lost my dog [and] getting to see pictures of her as a puppy really brought tears to my eyes," she told NBC News.
Amayi said being reunited with the images was life changing, though Greiner doesn't think his actions were that big of a deal.
Advert
"I don’t feel that what I did was anything anyone else wouldn’t have done," he said. "I knew those pictures were sentimental to someone. Taking five minutes to make a Facebook post was the least I could do. It turns out that was all that was needed."
Amayi is hopeful her story will inspire other people to try and reunite people with their lost items, saying: "It may seem insignificant to you but that lost earring may have been someone's treasure from their grandma, that hat may be the last thing someone’s brother gave them before they died.
"Most people would be thrilled to get an old wallet back even if they have already had to get new cards. If more people took time to care for others the world would be a better place."
Emily Brown