We Must Have a Chopper to Locate Them’: Adolescent’s Emergency Call to Aid Relatives Adrift Off Australian Coast Unveiled

“We got lost out there,” young Austin Appelbee informs the triple-zero dispatcher, having swum 2.5 miles in choppy, the sea and sprinting two kilometres to get assistance for his kin.

The dispatcher asks how much time has elapsed since he started out.

“[It] was quite some time back … I think they’re far offshore. I think we must get a rescue aircraft to go find them,” he states.

Authorities have released the recorded plea made previously after the teen left his loved ones adrift at sea off the West Australian coast to fetch help.

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

“I have no idea about what their status is right now, and I’m extremely frightened,” he tells the person on the line.

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

The Harrowing Ordeal

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

His mother asked him to set out and find help, so the boy commenced, discarding first his waterlogged vessel then his unwieldy PFD to cover the remaining stretch.

After reaching land – following a four-hour swim – he sprinted for 2km 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 operator.

“I’m located on the beach right now, and I have to also explain – I think I need an ambulance because I think I have exposure … I’m really, I’m completely exhausted. I have sunstroke, and I feel like I’m about to collapse.”

A Getaway in Peril

The holidaymakers was on a break in Quindalup, two hundred kilometres south of Perth. They set off from Geographe Bay around 10am on a Friday in late January.

The parent later explained that they were playing around when the kids “drifted further than intended”. The wind picked up, they dropped their paddles, and started being carried out.

“It sort of all became dangerous very, very quickly,” she noted.

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

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

The Successful Mission

The youth explained being “completely out of breath”.

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

The distress call was made at around 6pm.

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

The recording was made public with the parents' permission.

A senior officer who managed the operation said the family was in an “desperately dangerous position”.

“They were in real trouble, and time was of the essence given how much time they had been in the water and with light running out.

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

The commander also commended how the boy effectively communicated vital details.

When asked to identify the boards for the search crew, the boy replied: “They were a green and white colour.”

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