We Must Have a Helicopter to Go Find Them’: Adolescent’s Urgent Plea to Aid Relatives Stranded Off Down Under Coast Unveiled

“We ended up adrift out there,” a 13-year-old boy informs the emergency operator, after swimming four kilometres in rough, open ocean and sprinting two kilometres to get assistance for his household.

The operator asks how long has passed since he began.

“[It] was ages past … I think they’re a long way from land. I think we must get a rescue aircraft to locate them,” he states.

Authorities have made public the emergency phone call made last month after the youth departed from his family adrift at sea off the WA coast to seek assistance.

His demeanour remains lucid and collected, even as he details his worry for his family members.

“I am unsure of what their state is right now, and I’m really scared,” he confides in the operator.

“Mum said to find rescue … We were in serious danger.”

The Perilous Situation

The mother and children had been pulled 2.5 miles out to sea in stormy conditions while kayaking and paddleboarding.

His mother asked him to take his kayak and find help, so the boy set off, ditching first his waterlogged vessel then his cumbersome lifejacket to cover the remaining stretch.

After reaching land – following a four-hour swim – he ran for 2km to retrieve a mobile phone.

“Hello, my name is Austin … I have two 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 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 faint.”

A Vacation Gone Wrong

The family was on holiday 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 mother later described that they were having fun when the young ones “drifted further than intended”. The conditions worsened, they lost their oars, and started floating away.

“It kind of all went wrong 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 stated.

The Successful Mission

The youth described being “completely out of breath”.

“I just pressed on, I do breaststroke, I do front crawl, I do elementary backstroke,” he explained.

The call for help was made at around 6pm.

At about 8.30pm, a full ten hours after they first set out, the group were located and saved. They had floated about 14km out to sea.

The emergency call was shared with the family’s permission.

A forward commander who oversaw the rescue mission said the family was in an “incredibly perilous state”.

“They were in genuine danger, and time was of the essence given how long they had been in the water and with daylight fading.

“What the boy did was nothing short of extraordinary. His heroic actions in those conditions were astonishing, and his actions were crucial in bringing about a successful outcome.”

The officer also highlighted how the boy clearly relayed vital details.

When asked to describe the boards for the rescue team, the boy replied: “They were coloured green and white.”

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