We Require a Helicopter to Locate Them’: Teenager’s Urgent Plea to Rescue Family Lost Off Aussie Coast Disclosed

“We became disoriented out there,” the teenager informs the triple-zero dispatcher, having swum 2.5 miles in treacherous, open water and jogging 2km to secure help for his household.

The operator questions how long has passed since he began.

“[It] was ages past … I think they’re kilometres out to sea. I think we need a chopper to search for them,” he says.

Authorities have made public the distress call made previously after the boy left his relatives adrift at sea off the West Australian coast to fetch help.

His tone remains steady and composed, even as he expresses his worry for his kin.

“I don’t know what their status is right now, and I’m extremely frightened,” he tells the operator.

“Mum said go get help … We were in massive trouble.”

The Dangerous Incident

The mother and children had been swept four kilometres out to sea in stormy conditions while using kayaks and paddleboards.

His mum asked him to use his craft and locate rescue, so the boy commenced, discarding first his sinking craft then his unwieldy PFD to cover the remaining stretch.

After reaching land – following a four-hour swim – he ran for 1.25 miles to retrieve a cell phone.

“Hello, my name is Austin … I have younger siblings, Beau and Grace. Beau is 12 and Grace is eight,” he tells the call handler.

“I’m sitting on the beach right now, and I have to also explain – I think I need an paramedic because I think I have exposure … I’m really, I’m utterly fatigued. I have hyperthermia, and I feel like I’m about to faint.”

A Holiday Turned Crisis

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

The woman later explained that they were playing around when the children “drifted further than intended”. The breeze strengthened, they dropped their paddles, and started drifting.

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

The mother also spoke of having to make “a terribly difficult call” to instruct her son to make the swim for help.

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

The Successful Mission

The boy described being “very puffed out”.

“I just pressed on, I do breaststroke, I do freestyle, I do a floating stroke,” he recalled.

The distress call was made at about 6pm.

At about 8.30pm, a full ten hours after they first departed, the stranded individuals were located and saved. They had been carried about 14km out to sea.

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

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

“They were in real trouble, and time was of the essence given how long they had been in the water and with night approaching.

“What Austin did was incredibly brave. His bravery and courage in those conditions were astonishing, and his actions were crucial in bringing about a rescue.”

The commander also praised how the youth calmly conveyed vital details.

When asked to detail the boards for the search crew, the youth said: “They were coloured 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 caught one.”