We Require a Helicopter to Locate Them’: Adolescent’s Urgent Plea to Save Family Lost Off Australian Coast Revealed

“We ended up adrift out there,” the teenager explains to the 000 call handler, after swimming 2.5 miles in rough, open ocean and sprinting 1.25 miles to secure help for his family.

The dispatcher inquires how much time has elapsed since he started out.

“[It] was quite some time back … I think they’re kilometres out to sea. I think we must get a helicopter to search for them,” he states.

Police have released the recorded plea made previously after the teen left his family adrift at sea off the Western Australian coast to find rescuers.

His tone remains steady and composed, even as he details his fear for his family members.

“I am unsure of what their condition is right now, and I’m extremely frightened,” he confides in the operator.

“Mum said to find rescue … We were in serious danger.”

The Dangerous Incident

The holidaymakers had been pulled four kilometres out to sea in treacherous conditions while kayaking and paddleboarding.

His mum urged him to use his craft and get assistance, so the boy commenced, abandoning first his sinking craft then his unwieldy PFD to cover the remaining stretch.

After getting to the beach – after an extensive period – he raced for 2km to get to a cell phone.

“Hello, my name is Austin … I have younger siblings, Beau and Grace. Beau is 12 and Grace is eight,” he tells the emergency services.

“I’m sitting on the beach right now, and I have to also add – I think I need an paramedic because I think I have hypothermia … I’m really, I’m completely exhausted. I have sunstroke, and I feel like I’m about to pass out.”

A Getaway in Peril

The family was on holiday in Quindalup, two hundred kilometres south of Perth. They set off from Geographe Bay following 10am on a Friday in late January.

The parent later explained that they were having fun when the kids “went out a bit too far”. The conditions worsened, they were separated from their equipment, and started being carried out.

“It pretty much all turned bad very, very quickly,” she remarked.

The mother also referenced having to make “a terribly difficult call” to send her son to make the swim for help.

“I knew he was the strongest and he could do it,” she commented.

The Successful Mission

The boy described being “completely out of breath”.

“I just continued swimming, I do the breaststroke, I do front crawl, I do elementary backstroke,” he said.

The call for help was made at about 6pm.

At around 8.30pm, a full ten hours after they first began, the group were spotted and rescued. They had floated about 9 miles out to sea.

The emergency call was released with the mother’s permission.

A police sergeant who coordinated the search and rescue effort said the family was in an “incredibly perilous state”.

“They were in real trouble, and time was of the essence given how long they had been in the water and with daylight fading.

“What Austin did was nothing short of extraordinary. His heroic actions in those conditions were astonishing, and his actions were instrumental in bringing about a rescue.”

The officer also commended how the youth calmly conveyed critical information.

When asked to detail the boards for the search crew, the youth responded: “They were coloured green and white.”

“And I’m not sure if it’s still on, but they had this fishing rod, and there was a fish hooked. Since we caught one.”