We Must Have a Aircraft to Go Find Them’: 13-Year-Old’s Distress Call to Aid Loved Ones Stranded Off Aussie Coast Disclosed

“We became disoriented out there,” the teenager explains to the triple-zero dispatcher, after swimming four kilometres in treacherous, the sea and jogging two kilometres to get assistance for his family.

The dispatcher inquires how much time has elapsed since he began.

“[It] was a very long time ago … I think they’re a long way from land. I think we require a chopper to search for them,” he reports.

Emergency services have released the emergency phone call made previously after the youth left his relatives adrift at sea off the WA coast to find rescuers.

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

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

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

The Dangerous Incident

The holidaymakers had been swept 4km out to sea in rough conditions while kayaking and paddleboarding.

His mum instructed him to take his kayak and locate rescue, so the youth began, ditching first his failing kayak then his cumbersome lifejacket to make the journey by swimming.

After getting to the beach – following a four-hour swim – he raced for 1.25 miles to retrieve a phone.

“Hello, my name is Austin … I have a brother and sister, Beau and Grace. Beau is 12 and Grace is eight,” he tells the operator.

“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 completely exhausted. I have hyperthermia, and I feel like I’m about to collapse.”

A Vacation Gone Wrong

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

The mother later explained that they were playing around when the young ones “went out a bit too far”. The wind picked up, they dropped their paddles, and started being carried out.

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

The mother also spoke of having to make “one of the hardest decisions” to instruct her son to swim to land.

“I knew he was the best swimmer and he was able to manage it,” she commented.

The Successful Mission

The boy recalled being “completely out of breath”.

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

The call for help was made at about 6pm.

At roughly 8.30pm, a full ten hours after they first set out, the group were located and saved. They had floated about fourteen kilometres out to sea.

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

A senior officer who managed the operation said the family 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 daylight fading.

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

The sergeant also highlighted how the boy calmly conveyed vital details.

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

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