We Must Have a Aircraft to Go Find Them’: 13-Year-Old’s Distress Call to Rescue Relatives Adrift Off Australian Coast Unveiled

“We became disoriented out there,” the teenager tells the 000 call handler, after swimming 4km in choppy, open ocean and jogging two kilometres to secure help for his household.

The dispatcher inquires how long has elapsed since he began.

“[It] was a very long time ago … I think they’re kilometres out to sea. I think we need a chopper to go find them,” he states.

Emergency services have released the distress call made previously after the boy left his loved ones adrift at sea off the WA coast to fetch help.

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

“I don’t know what their condition is right now, and I’m terrified,” he confides in the dispatcher.

“Mum said to seek assistance … We were in serious danger.”

The Harrowing Ordeal

The mother and children had been carried 2.5 miles out to sea in stormy conditions while kayaking and paddleboarding.

His mum urged him to set out and find help, so the boy began, discarding first his sinking craft then his bulky flotation device to cover the remaining stretch.

After reaching land – four hours later – he ran for 1.25 miles to retrieve a cell phone.

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

“I’m located on the beach right now, and I have to also explain – I think I need an paramedic because I think I have a dangerously low body temperature … I’m really, I’m utterly fatigued. I have hyperthermia, and I feel like I’m about to faint.”

A Vacation Gone Wrong

The group was on a break in Quindalup, 125 miles south of Perth. They set off from Geographe Bay some time after 10am on a Friday in late January.

The woman later described that they were playing around when the young ones “drifted further than intended”. The breeze strengthened, they lost their oars, and started drifting.

“It kind of all went wrong very, very quickly,” she noted.

The parent also described having to make “a terribly difficult call” to instruct her son to swim to land.

“I knew he was the most capable and he could do it,” she stated.

The Search Operation

The boy recalled being “extremely winded”.

“I just continued swimming, I do the breaststroke, I do front crawl, I do survival backstroke,” he explained.

The emergency call was made at approximately 6pm.

At roughly 8.30pm, a full ten hours after they first began, the family were found and brought to safety. They had drifted about fourteen kilometres out to sea.

The audio was made public with the mother’s permission.

A forward commander who managed the operation said the group was in an “desperately dangerous position”.

“They were in serious jeopardy, and time was extremely pressing given how long they had been in the water and with light running out.

“What the boy did was incredibly brave. His bravery and courage in those conditions were astonishing, and his actions were pivotal in bringing about a rescue.”

The commander also praised how the teenager clearly relayed vital details.

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

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