iPhone 5S can't get through activation due to faulty sim card reader

[nipj]

I have an iPhone 5S with a faulty sim card reader (thanks to a spilled cup of tea).
I've tried other working sim cards in it and it still reads No Sim.
Other than the faulty sim reader, the phone is fully functional via wifi. (Well, I should say "was" fully-functional.)

I did a full reset of the phone and now I can't get through the activation process. I get past the wifi network setup and then after it says "may take a few mins to activate phone" I get a "please insert a SIM card." msg. Again, there is a SIM card in the phone but the reader is not working.

I tried to restore in Itunes using a backup but it also demanded a SIM card to continue.

Any ideas on what I can do?
This phone is now useless unless I can get past this step in activation.

Thank you for your help.

 

[J. A.]

Welcome to iPhoneForums!

I'm afraid you won't be able to get past the activation screen without a working SIM card reader.