We Must Have a Aircraft to Locate Them’: Teenager’s Emergency Call to Aid Relatives Lost Off Down Under Coast Disclosed

“We ended up adrift out there,” a 13-year-old boy tells the 000 call handler, following a swim four kilometres in treacherous, open ocean and sprinting two kilometres to get assistance for his kin.

The operator questions how long has gone by since he started out.

“[It] was quite some time back … I think they’re kilometres out to sea. I think we need a chopper to search for them,” he states.

Police have released the recorded plea made in recent weeks after the boy departed from his loved ones floating at sea off the WA coast to seek assistance.

His tone remains lucid and collected, even as he expresses his fear for his kin.

“I have no idea about 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 holidaymakers had been swept 4km out to sea in rough conditions while kayaking and paddleboarding.

His mum urged him to take his kayak and find help, so the teenager began, abandoning first his failing kayak then his bulky flotation device to cover the remaining stretch.

After getting to the beach – four hours later – he sprinted for 2km to access a 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 sitting on the beach right now, and I have to also mention – I think I need an paramedic because I think I have exposure … I’m really, I’m extremely tired. I have sunstroke, and I feel like I’m about to pass out.”

A Vacation Gone Wrong

The group was on holiday in Quindalup, 200km south of Perth. They set off from Geographe Bay following 10am on a Friday in late January.

The mother later explained that they were playing around when the kids “ventured out too far”. The wind picked up, they dropped their paddles, and started being carried out.

“It pretty much all turned bad very, very quickly,” she remarked.

The parent also spoke of having to make “a terribly difficult call” to ask her son to swim ashore.

“I knew he was the best swimmer and he was able to manage it,” she said.

The Search Operation

The youth explained being “completely out of breath”.

“I just pressed on, I do the breaststroke, I do front crawl, I do survival backstroke,” he recalled.

The call for help was made at about 6pm.

At roughly 8.30pm, a full ten hours after they first departed, the group were located and saved. They had drifted about 9 miles out to sea.

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

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

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

“What the boy did was incredibly brave. His bravery and courage in those conditions were remarkable, and his actions were instrumental in bringing about a rescue.”

The sergeant also highlighted how the youth clearly relayed key facts.

When asked to identify the equipment for the search crew, the teenager responded: “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. Since we hooked one.”