We Must Have a Aircraft to Search For Them’: Adolescent’s Distress Call to Save Relatives Stranded Off Australian Coast Disclosed

“We ended up adrift out there,” the teenager tells the triple-zero dispatcher, having swum four kilometres in rough, open ocean and sprinting 1.25 miles to secure help for his family.

The operator asks how much time has elapsed 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 search for them,” he says.

Police have disclosed the distress call made in recent weeks after the boy left his loved ones adrift at sea off the WA coast to seek assistance.

His voice remains lucid and collected, even as he details his concern for his family members.

“I have no idea about what their condition is right now, and I’m terrified,” he tells the dispatcher.

“Mum said to seek assistance … We were in massive trouble.”

The Perilous Situation

The mother and children had been carried 4km out to sea in rough conditions while kayaking and paddleboarding.

His mum urged him to use his craft and get assistance, so the teenager began, ditching first his sinking craft then his cumbersome lifejacket to swim the distance.

After making it to shore – four hours later – he raced 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 explains the operator.

“I’m located on the beach right now, and I have to also explain – I think I need an paramedic because I think I have a dangerously low body temperature … I’m really, I’m completely exhausted. I have heatstroke, and I feel like I’m about to faint.”

A Vacation Gone Wrong

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

The woman later described that they were having fun when the kids “ventured out too far”. The breeze strengthened, they dropped their paddles, and started drifting.

“It sort of all turned bad very, very quickly,” she said.

The parent also spoke of having to make “an incredibly tough choice” to ask her son to swim ashore.

“I knew he was the most capable and he could do it,” she said.

The Rescue Effort

The boy explained being “extremely winded”.

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

The call for help was made at around 6pm.

At roughly 8.30pm, many hours after they first departed, the family were located and saved. They had floated about 14km out to sea.

The recording was released with the mother’s permission.

A police sergeant who oversaw the operation said the group was in an “desperately dangerous position”.

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

“What Austin did was nothing short of extraordinary. His fortitude and resolve in those conditions were remarkable, and his actions were crucial in bringing about a rescue.”

The commander also praised how the teenager effectively communicated critical information.

When asked to identify the boards for the authorities, the boy said: “They were a green and white colour.”

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