We Require a Helicopter to Locate Them’: 13-Year-Old’s Distress Call to Rescue Family Stranded Off Down Under Coast Revealed
“We ended up adrift out there,” the teenager tells the emergency operator, having swum 4km in treacherous, open water and running 2km to get assistance for his family.
The operator asks how long has passed since he began.
“[It] was a very long time ago … I think they’re far offshore. I think we require a chopper to search for them,” he says.
Emergency services have made public the recorded plea made in recent weeks after the youth left his family floating at sea off the Western Australian coast to seek assistance.
His tone 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 extremely frightened,” he confides in the person on the line.
“Mum said to seek assistance … We were in serious danger.”
The Perilous Situation
The family group had been swept 4km out to sea in stormy conditions while using kayaks and paddleboards.
His mum asked him to take his kayak and find help, so the boy set off, discarding first his failing kayak then his bulky flotation device to make the journey by swimming.
After making it to shore – four hours later – he ran for 1.25 miles to retrieve 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 states the call handler.
“I’m sitting on the beach right now, and I have to also explain – I think I need an medical help because I think I have a dangerously low body temperature … 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 set off from Geographe Bay following 10am on a Friday in late January.
The mother later recalled that they were playing around when the young ones “ventured out too far”. The conditions worsened, they dropped their paddles, and started floating away.
“It sort of all turned bad very, very quickly,” she noted.
The parent also referenced having to make “a terribly difficult call” to ask her son to make the swim for help.
“I knew he was the most capable and he had the ability to succeed,” she said.
The Successful Mission
The youth recalled being “completely out of breath”.
“I just keep swimming, I do the breaststroke, I do freestyle, I do survival backstroke,” he recalled.
The distress call was made at around 6pm.
At roughly 8.30pm, ten hours after they first departed, the stranded individuals were spotted and rescued. They had floated about 9 miles out to sea.
The emergency call was shared with the mother’s permission.
A police sergeant who oversaw the operation said the family was in an “extremely dire situation”.
“They were in serious jeopardy, and time was extremely pressing given how much time they had been in the water and with light running out.
“What the teenager did was nothing short of extraordinary. His bravery and courage in those conditions were astonishing, and his actions were pivotal in bringing about a positive result.”
The commander also highlighted how the youth effectively communicated key facts.
When asked to identify the boards for the search crew, the youth replied: “They were green and white.”
“And I’m not sure if it’s still attached, but they had this fishing rod, and there was a fish on there. Because we hooked one.”
