‘We Need a Aircraft to Go Find Them’: 13-Year-Old’s Emergency Call to Aid Relatives Adrift Off Australian Coast Disclosed

“We ended up adrift out there,” the teenager tells the triple-zero dispatcher, following a swim 4km in rough, the sea and running two kilometres to secure help for his kin.

The call taker asks how much time 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 reports.

Authorities have released the recorded plea made last month after the boy left his family adrift at sea off the Western Australian coast to fetch help.

His voice remains lucid and collected, even as he expresses his worry for his family.

“I am unsure of what their state is right now, and I’m extremely frightened,” he informs the operator.

“Mum said go get help … We were in serious danger.”

The Dangerous Incident

The holidaymakers had been pulled 2.5 miles out to sea in stormy conditions while using kayaks and paddleboards.

His mother instructed him to use his craft and locate rescue, so the boy set off, abandoning first his failing kayak then his bulky flotation device to swim the distance.

After reaching land – after an extensive period – he raced for 1.25 miles to retrieve a mobile phone.

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

“I’m positioned on the beach right now, and I have to also add – I think I need an paramedic because I think I have hypothermia … I’m really, I’m extremely tired. I have sunstroke, and I feel like I’m about to collapse.”

A Holiday Turned Crisis

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

The parent later explained that they were enjoying themselves when the children “drifted further than intended”. The wind picked up, they lost their oars, and started being carried out.

“It pretty much all went wrong very, very quickly,” she noted.

The parent also referenced having to make “one of the hardest decisions” to instruct her son to swim to land.

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

The Rescue Effort

The youth explained being “completely out of breath”.

“I just continued swimming, I do breaststroke, I do front crawl, I do elementary backstroke,” he said.

The call for help was made at around 6pm.

At about 8.30pm, a full ten hours after they first departed, the stranded individuals were spotted and rescued. They had drifted about 9 miles out to sea.

The emergency call was made public with the family’s permission.

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

“They were in real trouble, and time was absolutely critical given how long they had been in the water and with light running out.

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

The sergeant also commended how the boy effectively communicated critical information.

When asked to detail the equipment for the authorities, the youth responded: “They were green and white.”

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