We Require a Chopper to Locate Them’: Teenager’s Distress Call to Rescue Relatives Lost Off Australian Coast Unveiled

“We ended up adrift out there,” a 13-year-old boy tells the 000 call handler, having swum four kilometres in treacherous, open water and jogging 1.25 miles to get assistance for his family.

The operator asks how much time has passed since he set off.

“[It] was a very long time ago … I think they’re a long way from land. I think we need a rescue aircraft 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 lucid and collected, even as he expresses his concern for his kin.

“I don’t know what their state is right now, and I’m terrified,” he tells the person on the line.

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

The Harrowing Ordeal

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

His parent urged him to take his kayak and locate rescue, so the youth began, abandoning first his sinking craft then his cumbersome lifejacket to make the journey by swimming.

After making it to shore – following a four-hour swim – he raced for two kilometres to access a phone.

“Hello, my name is Austin … I have younger siblings, 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 hypothermia … I’m really, I’m utterly fatigued. I have heatstroke, and I feel like I’m about to pass out.”

A Vacation Gone Wrong

The group was on holiday in Quindalup, 125 miles south of Perth. They departed from Geographe Bay around 10am on a Friday in late January.

The parent later explained that they were playing around when the kids “ventured out too far”. The conditions worsened, they were separated from their equipment, and started floating away.

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

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

“I knew he was the best swimmer and he had the ability to succeed,” she said.

The Search Operation

The teenager explained being “very puffed out”.

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

The distress call was made at about 6pm.

At about 8.30pm, ten hours after they first departed, the stranded individuals were spotted and rescued. They had drifted about fourteen kilometres out to sea.

The audio was shared with the parents' permission.

A police sergeant who coordinated the operation said the group was in an “incredibly perilous state”.

“They were in genuine danger, and time was extremely pressing given how much time they had been in the water and with night approaching.

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

The officer also praised how the teenager effectively communicated key facts.

When asked to describe the paddleboards for the rescue team, the youth said: “They were green and white.”

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