We Must Have a Helicopter to Go Find Them’: Teenager’s Urgent Plea to Rescue Family Adrift Off Australian Coast Unveiled

“We ended up adrift out there,” a 13-year-old boy tells the triple-zero dispatcher, after swimming 4km in choppy, open ocean and jogging two kilometres to get assistance for his kin.

The operator asks how long has passed since he set off.

“[It] was quite some time back … I think they’re far offshore. I think we require a rescue aircraft to locate them,” he says.

Police have made public the recorded plea made last month after the teen left his loved ones floating at sea off the Western Australian coast to seek assistance.

His voice remains steady and composed, even as he expresses his worry for his family.

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

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

The Dangerous Incident

The mother and children had been swept 4km out to sea in treacherous conditions while using kayaks and paddleboards.

His mum instructed him to set out and get assistance, so the teenager set off, abandoning first his sinking craft then his cumbersome lifejacket to make the journey by swimming.

After getting to the beach – four hours later – he ran for 1.25 miles to get to a mobile 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 explain – I think I need an paramedic because I think I have exposure … I’m really, I’m completely exhausted. I have heatstroke, and I feel like I’m about to faint.”

A Getaway in Peril

The holidaymakers was on a break in Quindalup, 200km south of Perth. They began their trip from Geographe Bay following 10am on a Friday in late January.

The parent later described that they were enjoying themselves when the young ones “went out a bit too far”. The wind picked up, they dropped their paddles, and started drifting.

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

The parent also spoke of having to make “a terribly difficult call” to ask her son to make the swim for help.

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

The Rescue Effort

The youth explained being “extremely winded”.

“I just continued swimming, I do breaststroke, I do front crawl, I do survival backstroke,” he recalled.

The emergency call was made at around 6pm.

At roughly 8.30pm, a full ten hours after they first set out, the family were spotted and rescued. They had been carried about 9 miles out to sea.

The recording was released with the mother’s permission.

A senior officer who managed 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 exceptional, and his actions were crucial in bringing about a rescue.”

The sergeant also commended how the youth clearly relayed key facts.

When asked to identify the equipment for the rescue team, the teenager responded: “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 catch on the line. Since we managed to catch a fish.”