Payam Data Recovery Releases Annual Report on 11 Most Unusual Physical Damage Recovery Cases of 2025

Rhodes lab recovers data from lawn mower shredding, farm animals, concrete mixer crushes - 145 cases deemed impossible by other providers

SYDNEY, NSW, AUSTRALIA, December 19, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Payam Data Recovery, Australia's leading data recovery specialist since 1998, today released its annual compilation of the 11 most shocking data recovery cases of 2025, showcasing the company's ability to recover data from devices subjected to extreme physical damage that providers worldwide deemed impossible.

The list was compiled from cases handled at the company's Rhodes facility, where engineers attended to over 6,000 data recoveries in 2025 alone. From devices crushed by farm animals to phones shredded by lawn mowers, from insect infestations to industrial accidents, the cases demonstrate that advances in chip-off recovery and micro-electronics repair make almost no situation impossible.

"What sets 2025 apart is the sheer variety of unusual situations we've encountered," said Mr. Payam Toloo, Founder and Director. "Data recovery used to be mostly about hard drives in cleanrooms. Today, we're dealing with phones shredded by lawn mowers, MacBooks infested with insects, and devices crushed by farm animals. Each case presents unique challenges that require chip removal, micro-soldering, and logic board repair techniques."

The company successfully recovered data from 145 cases that other companies worldwide told clients was unrecoverable.

Top 11 Most Shocking Data Disasters of 2025 (All recoveries successful)

11. iPhone fell from fence post at horse stable. Horse immediately stepped on device, squashing it completely flat under hoof. Device arrived crushed with screen and chassis destroyed.

10. MacBook Pro would not turn on and was not charging. Owner was told it needed the logic board replaced. When engineers opened the device, they discovered the interior was completely infested with ants and small bugs. Insects had been eating away at electronics throughout the motherboard and components.

9. iPhone with 25,000 precious photos went black after 25kg weight dropped directly onto it at fitness center. Apple told owner device couldn't be saved. Client had given up hope for years before attempting recovery.

8. iPhone accidentally went through full washing machine cycle overnight in pants pocket. Device completely submerged in hot water and laundry detergent for hours, spinning at high speed.

7. A 16TB Synology-branded helium-filled hard drive from single bay NAS suffered power surge damage to the PCB. This newer drive design presented an unusual challenge - unlike older hard drives that only required simple ROM chip swaps, this model had firmware tightly bound to the specific PCB revision with authentication security checks. Recovery required sourcing an exact-match donor PCB with identical firmware version, then performing multiple delicate chip transplants while preserving the drive's unique identity to prevent the NAS from rejecting it as counterfeit. A single mistake would render years of irreplaceable NAS data permanently lost.

6. Mobile phone dropped on farm, immediately stomped on by cow, crushing device completely flat. Farm documentation and family photos trapped inside flattened chassis.

5. MacBook placed on car roof during busy day, forgotten, slid off and run over by multiple vehicles in heavy traffic. Device arrived utterly crushed and flattened. Another data recovery company examined it and deemed recovery completely impossible.

4. MacBook Pro fell into swimming pool during poolside work. As panicked owner frantically rescued it, device slipped from wet hands and fell back into pool a second time. This double-dip disaster caused catastrophic liquid damage throughout logic board, requiring complete board transplant.

3. New Zealand family's SanDisk 2TB external SSD containing 10 years of irreplaceable family photos was accidentally placed in dishwasher with detergent and run through full hot wash cycle. Extreme heat, water pressure, and chemical exposure created severe damage to electronics.

2. iPhone 15 was run over and completely smashed by concrete mixer truck at active construction site. Massive industrial vehicle crushed device beyond recognition into multiple flattened pieces with metal chassis completely compressed.

1. iPhone fell from owner's pocket while mowing the lawn on ride-on lawn mower. The device went under the mower blades and was shredded into multiple pieces by the rotating cutting mechanism. The phone had 2 years worth of family photos transferred from previous device. Despite being torn apart by lawn mower blades, engineers identified the memory chip fragments and successfully performed chip-off recovery and logic board transplant. All data was recovered. This represented one of the most challenging recoveries of 2025.

The Stories Behind the Recoveries

"These cases might sound impossible, but advances in chip-off technology and micro-electronics repair have opened up new possibilities," Toloo explained. "When someone calls us about a phone that's been shredded by a lawn mower or a laptop infested with ants, we know other companies have already said no. That's often when we get the call - from individuals, businesses, law enforcement agencies, or even international clients who've exhausted their local options."

Payam Data Recovery's Rhodes facility operates a state-of-the-art electronics repair and chip-off lab specializing in mobile phones, SSDs and MacBooks. The facility features a Class-100 cleanroom environment, PC-3000 systems for firmware repair, microscopes, nano-soldering stations, and micro-soldering equipment for chip removal, chip transplant, and logic board transplant procedures on SSDs, mobile devices, MacBooks, iMacs and other electronics.

The company is trusted by over 2,000 IT companies, 1,000 mobile phone repair shops, Apple Stores, AppleCare, Samsung service centers, law enforcement agencies, government departments and businesses across Australia and internationally. International clients from over 30 countries ship damaged devices to Australia for recovery.

About Payam Data Recovery

Established in 1998, Payam Data Recovery is Australia's most trusted data recovery provider with over 150,000 successful recoveries. Operating from advanced facilities in Rhodes, NSW, with offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, the company serves individuals, businesses, government agencies, law enforcement and international clients. All work is performed in-house using Class-100 cleanroom facilities, PC-3000 systems, microscopes, nano-soldering stations and advanced micro-electronics repair tools.

For more information, visit https://www.payam.com.au/ or email help@payam.com.au

Payam Toloo
Payam Data Recovery
help@payam.com.au
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