LANSING, Mich. -- A Mid-Michigan man has a cell phone in part to thank for saving his life when his kayak overturned on a Lansing-area river.

The 61-year-old Saginaw resident called 911 from his phone as he held on to his overturned kayak and floated at least a mile down the Red Cedar River on Monday.

Authorities were able to figure out where he was by talking to him on the cell phone.

Lansing fire spokesman Steve Mazurek said the man and the kayak eventually became lodged in some branches, and rescuers quickly found him.

Firefighters, using rope and several motorized water rescue boats, pulled the man out of the water.

The unnamed man, who was planning on taking the river from Michigan State University to Grand Rapids, was not injured.

He stowed the cell phone in a plastic bag before heading out on the water.