We Must Have a Chopper to Search For Them’: 13-Year-Old’s Distress Call to Save Relatives Adrift Off Down Under Coast Disclosed

“We got lost out there,” the teenager informs the 000 call handler, having swum 2.5 miles in choppy, open water and jogging 2km to secure help for his kin.

The dispatcher inquires how much time has gone by since he set off.

“[It] was a very long time ago … I think they’re far offshore. I think we need a rescue aircraft to go find them,” he reports.

Police have made public the recorded plea made last month after the teen left his loved ones adrift at sea off the Western Australian coast to fetch help.

His demeanour remains steady and composed, even as he voices his fear for his family members.

“I am unsure of what their condition is right now, and I’m terrified,” he confides in the person on the line.

“Mum said go get help … We were in grave peril.”

The Harrowing Ordeal

The holidaymakers had been carried 4km out to sea in treacherous conditions while using kayaks and paddleboards.

His mum instructed him to use his craft and get assistance, so the youth set off, ditching first his failing kayak then his unwieldy PFD to make the journey by swimming.

After getting to the beach – following a four-hour swim – 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 positioned on the beach right now, and I have to also mention – I think I need an ambulance because I think I have exposure … I’m really, I’m utterly fatigued. I have heatstroke, and I feel like I’m about to pass out.”

A Holiday Turned Crisis

The group was on a break in Quindalup, 200km south of Perth. They departed from Geographe Bay around 10am on a Friday in late January.

The woman later described that they were enjoying themselves when the young ones “ventured out too far”. The conditions worsened, they dropped their paddles, and started floating away.

“It kind of all turned bad very, very quickly,” she said.

The mother also described having to make “a terribly difficult call” to ask her son to swim ashore.

“I knew he was the most capable and he had the ability to succeed,” she commented.

The Search Operation

The boy described being “completely out of breath”.

“I just keep swimming, I do the breaststroke, I do freestyle, I do elementary backstroke,” he said.

The call for help was made at approximately 6pm.

At around 8.30pm, a full ten hours after they first departed, the family were spotted and rescued. They had been carried about fourteen kilometres out to sea.

The emergency call was shared with the family’s permission.

A police sergeant who managed the operation said the group was in an “extremely dire situation”.

“They were in real trouble, and time was absolutely critical given how long they had been in the water and with light running out.

“What Austin did was nothing short of extraordinary. His fortitude and resolve in those conditions were astonishing, and his actions were crucial in bringing about a successful outcome.”

The officer also praised how the teenager clearly relayed critical information.

When asked to detail the equipment for the rescue team, the teenager said: “They were green and white.”

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