A lost camera with photos has been reunited with its owner 13 years after it was lost in a Colorado river, all thanks to a stranger’s kindness. Coral Amayi had gone tubing with her friends down the Animas River in 2010 and there she lost her camera with photos from her friend’s wedding and bridal shower. She was devastated and hoped to recover it, but it was too deep. Two years later, she lost another camera during a rafting trip in Washington after another friend’s wedding. However, on March 14, a fisherman named Spencer Greiner found the first camera while fishing in the Animas River.
Discovery and Reunion
Greiner plugged in the memory card and found the photos from the wedding and bridal shower preserved. He then took to Facebook and posted the pictures in a Durango, Colorado, group, hoping to find the owner. Within an hour, the groom from the wedding commented on the post, and a few days later, Amayi and Greiner were in touch. They discovered that they have mutual friends, which made the reunion even more special.
Amayi was thrilled when she heard the news. She had given up hope of ever seeing the cameras or photos again, so the discovery was a welcome surprise. She immediately shared the story with others, saying that it was too wild to keep to herself.
A Kind Gesture
Greiner, the kind fisherman who found the camera, says he doesn’t feel that what he did was a big deal. He knew the photos would be sentimental to someone and took just five minutes to make a Facebook post, hoping to reunite the camera with its owner. He believes that it was something anyone else would do.
Amayi hopes that the story of her recovered camera inspires others to be more considerate and take the extra effort to reunite lost items with their owners.
“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,” she says. “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.”
