We Require a Helicopter to Locate Them’: Teenager’s Emergency Call to Aid Loved Ones Lost Off Aussie Coast Revealed

“We ended up adrift out there,” young Austin Appelbee explains to the triple-zero dispatcher, having swum four kilometres in treacherous, open ocean and running two kilometres to summon rescue for his kin.

The call taker asks how much time has gone by since he set off.

“[It] was a very long time ago … I think they’re kilometres out to sea. I think we need a helicopter to locate them,” he reports.

Police have made public the distress call made in recent weeks after the boy left his family drifting at sea off the West Australian coast to seek assistance.

His demeanour remains steady and composed, even as he voices his fear for his family.

“I don’t know what their state is right now, and I’m extremely frightened,” he informs the person on the line.

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

The Dangerous Incident

The family group had been carried four kilometres out to sea in rough conditions while kayaking and paddleboarding.

His mum urged him to set out and get assistance, so the boy commenced, discarding first his waterlogged vessel then his cumbersome lifejacket to swim the distance.

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

“Hello, my name is Austin … I have a brother and sister, Beau and Grace. Beau is 12 and Grace is eight,” he explains the emergency services.

“I’m sitting on the beach right now, and I have to also add – I think I need an paramedic because I think I have exposure … I’m really, I’m completely exhausted. I have hyperthermia, and I feel like I’m about to collapse.”

A Getaway in Peril

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

The parent later recalled that they were enjoying themselves when the young ones “ventured out too far”. The conditions worsened, they dropped their paddles, and started floating away.

“It kind of all went wrong very, very quickly,” she remarked.

The mother also described having to make “one of the hardest decisions” to ask her son to swim to land.

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

The Search Operation

The teenager recalled being “very puffed out”.

“I just keep swimming, I do the breaststroke, I do front crawl, I do a floating stroke,” he recalled.

The emergency call was made at around 6pm.

At about 8.30pm, many hours after they first departed, the family were spotted and rescued. They had been carried about fourteen kilometres out to sea.

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

A senior officer who oversaw the search and rescue effort said the family was in an “extremely dire situation”.

“They were in genuine danger, and time was extremely pressing given how long they had been in the water and with night approaching.

“What Austin did was incredibly brave. His fortitude and resolve in those conditions were remarkable, and his actions were pivotal in bringing about a successful outcome.”

The commander also commended how the boy effectively communicated key facts.

When asked to identify the boards for the rescue team, the boy said: “They were coloured 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 managed to catch a fish.”