A South Australian couple's river shack might have to be demolished, but a phone lost in River Murray floodwaters has miraculously survived.
Kylie Lehman's partner Matthew was canoeing along the River Murray to check on their Mannum shack in early December as waters began to rise.
But his canoe hit a tree near their property and the crash caused his phone to plunge to the bottom of the river.
"Unfortunately he got stuck in the current and hit a tree and rolled the canoe," Ms Lehman told ABC Radio Adelaide's Stacey Lee and Nikolai Beilharz.
"And he had his phone recording at the same time and he lost the phone.
"It went to the bottom of the river, or into a hole up the back of our shack."
While Mr Lehman was wearing a life jacket and was uninjured in the canoe crash, his brand new phone was irretrievable.
"He'd only got it a week before so he was a bit devastated," Ms Lehman said.
Two months later when roads had reopened, the pair returned to check on their shack.
While there, they stopped so Mr Lehman could show his partner where he had dropped his phone.
"And in a sandwich bag – because he had it in a sandwich bag so it wouldn't get wet – there was his phone," Ms Lehman said.
"It was wet and it smelled, but we dried it out for a couple of days in the sun.
"And we put it on charge the other night and it turned on and it was working.
"We were pretty shocked when we put it on the phone charger and it switched on."
While the phone was fine after many weeks underwater, unfortunately the pair's Mannum shack was not so lucky.
They will wait to hear from their insurance company, but are not sure they will be able to save it.
"We think we might have to knock it down," Ms Lehman said.
