‘We Need a Aircraft to Locate Them’: 13-Year-Old’s Urgent Plea to Save Family Adrift Off Down Under Coast Unveiled

“We got lost out there,” the teenager explains to the 000 call handler, after swimming 2.5 miles in treacherous, open water and sprinting 1.25 miles to summon rescue for his household.

The dispatcher questions how much time has gone by since he began.

“[It] was ages past … I think they’re far offshore. I think we require a chopper to go find them,” he says.

Police have disclosed the distress call made last month after the teen departed from his loved ones floating at sea off the WA coast to fetch help.

His voice remains clear and calm, even as he voices his concern for his family members.

“I am unsure of what their condition is right now, and I’m really scared,” he informs the dispatcher.

“Mum said to find rescue … We were in grave peril.”

The Dangerous Incident

The family group had been pulled four kilometres out to sea in rough conditions while kayaking and paddleboarding.

His mum urged him to use his craft and get assistance, so the teenager began, discarding first his waterlogged vessel then his unwieldy PFD to make the journey by swimming.

After getting to the beach – four hours later – he ran for 1.25 miles to get to a cell phone.

“Hello, my name is Austin … I have a brother and sister, Beau and Grace. Beau is 12 and Grace is eight,” he explains 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 hypothermia … I’m really, I’m utterly fatigued. I have heatstroke, and I feel like I’m about to collapse.”

A Holiday Turned Crisis

The holidaymakers was on vacation in Quindalup, 200km south of Perth. They departed from Geographe Bay following 10am on a Friday in late January.

The parent later recalled that they were having fun when the children “ventured out too far”. The conditions worsened, they lost their oars, and started floating away.

“It pretty much all went wrong very, very quickly,” she remarked.

The parent also referenced having to make “an incredibly tough choice” to send her son to swim to land.

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

The Successful Mission

The teenager explained being “completely out of breath”.

“I just keep swimming, I do breaststroke, I do front crawl, I do elementary backstroke,” he recalled.

The distress call was made at about 6pm.

At roughly 8.30pm, ten hours after they first began, the stranded individuals were located and saved. They had floated about 14km out to sea.

The emergency call was made public with the parents' permission.

A police sergeant who managed the search and rescue effort said the group was in an “extremely dire situation”.

“They were in serious jeopardy, and time was absolutely critical given how much time they had been in the water and with daylight fading.

“What Austin did was incredibly brave. His fortitude and resolve in those conditions were remarkable, and his actions were crucial in bringing about a successful outcome.”

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

When asked to identify 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 line, and there was a catch on the line. Since we caught one.”