A man who lost his phone while rafting was astonished when it started posting photographs to his Facebook account two weeks later.

Nathan Buhler, 29, instantly gave up hope on ever seeing his handset again when he accidentally dropped it into the Bow River.

But a fortnight later, pictures started appearing on his account - including the phone set up to look like it was driving a fire truck and playing table tennis.

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Nathan Buhler never expected to see his phone again after dropping it into the Bow River while rafting

He later discovered that Calgary's No.1 Fire Station firefighters had found the Samsung Galaxy smart phone in 1.5m (5ft) of water.

Despite being in the river for nearly two weeks, the phone turned on and was still logged into Mr Buhler's social media accounts, the Calgary Sun reports.

So the rescuers decided to have some fun with the device, which they renamed Hector Sanchez, in a bid to find its owner.

They took pictures of 'Hector' in various poses, such as pumping iron in the gym and helping them make their lunches.

Pictures of the phone were posted on Mr Buhler's Facebook page, showing it 'driving' a fire truck and holding the hose

The phone, which was jokingly renamed Hector Sanchez, also played table tennis while at the fire station in Calgary

It was pictured helping to make dinner with other fire-fighters at the station in Calgary

Nathan and his friends were amazed when pictures of his phone started appearing on his Facebook account

Mr Buhler, a power engineer, was alerted to the jokers by his girlfriend who noticed the posts.

'My girlfriend sent me a text yesterday and said, "Have you seen your Facebook status?"

'I said, "Of course I have, I'm the one who writes them."'

But when he checked, he saw a message and picture informing him the phone was at the firehall.

He went to the station to collect it and posed for a snap with Hector's rescuers before they had to dash off on an emergency call.

'As we were taking the photo, the fire alarm when off and they scattered,' he said.