‘We Need a Chopper to Go Find Them’: 13-Year-Old’s Urgent Plea to Aid Loved Ones Adrift Off Australian Coast Disclosed

“We got lost out there,” a 13-year-old boy tells the 000 call handler, following a swim four kilometres in choppy, open ocean and sprinting two kilometres to summon rescue for his household.

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

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

Authorities have made public the distress call made previously after the youth departed from his loved ones drifting at sea off the Western Australian coast to fetch help.

His voice remains clear and calm, even as he voices his fear for his family members.

“I don’t know what their state is right now, and I’m really scared,” he tells the operator.

“Mum said to seek assistance … We were in grave peril.”

The Perilous Situation

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

His mother asked him to take his kayak and find help, so the youth commenced, discarding first his failing kayak then his unwieldy PFD to make the journey by swimming.

After getting to the beach – four hours later – he ran for 1.25 miles to retrieve a 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 mention – I think I need an ambulance because I think I have hypothermia … I’m really, I’m utterly fatigued. I have hyperthermia, and I feel like I’m about to collapse.”

A Vacation Gone Wrong

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

The woman later explained that they were playing around when the young ones “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 mother also referenced having to make “a terribly difficult call” to instruct her son to swim ashore.

“I knew he was the most capable and he was able to manage it,” she stated.

The Successful Mission

The teenager explained being “extremely winded”.

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

The distress call was made at around 6pm.

At about 8.30pm, a full ten hours after they first set out, the stranded individuals were found and brought to safety. They had floated about 9 miles out to sea.

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

A senior officer who oversaw the rescue mission said the family was in an “desperately dangerous position”.

“They were in genuine danger, and time was of the essence given how much time they had been in the water and with night approaching.

“What the teenager did was nothing short of extraordinary. His bravery and courage in those conditions were exceptional, and his actions were crucial in bringing about a rescue.”

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

When asked to identify the boards for the rescue team, the youth replied: “They were a green and white colour.”

“And I’m not sure if it’s there, but they had this rod, and there was a fish hooked. Because we managed to catch a fish.”