We Require a Chopper to Locate Them’: Adolescent’s Emergency Call to Aid Loved Ones Adrift Off Aussie Coast Unveiled

“We got lost out there,” a 13-year-old boy informs the 000 call handler, following a swim 2.5 miles in treacherous, open water and running two kilometres to secure help for his kin.

The call taker inquires how much time has elapsed since he began.

“[It] was a very long time ago … I think they’re far offshore. I think we need a rescue aircraft to go find them,” he states.

Authorities have made public the emergency phone call made in recent weeks after the teen left his relatives drifting at sea off the Western Australian coast to seek assistance.

His demeanour remains steady and composed, even as he expresses his concern for his family members.

“I don’t know what their status is right now, and I’m extremely frightened,” he informs the operator.

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

The Harrowing Ordeal

The family group had been swept 2.5 miles out to sea in treacherous conditions while kayaking and paddleboarding.

His mum asked him to set out and locate rescue, so the youth began, abandoning first his failing kayak then his bulky flotation device to make the journey by swimming.

After getting to the beach – following a four-hour swim – he sprinted for two kilometres to get to a phone.

“Hello, my name is Austin … I have a brother and sister, Beau and Grace. Beau is 12 and Grace is eight,” he tells the call handler.

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

A Getaway in Peril

The family was on vacation in Quindalup, 200km south of Perth. They departed from Geographe Bay some time after 10am on a Friday in late January.

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

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

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

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

The Search Operation

The boy explained being “completely out of breath”.

“I just continued swimming, I do the breaststroke, I do freestyle, I do elementary backstroke,” he recalled.

The call for help was made at around 6pm.

At around 8.30pm, ten hours after they first began, the group were located and saved. They had drifted about 14km out to sea.

The audio was released with the family’s permission.

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

“They were in serious jeopardy, 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 fortitude and resolve in those conditions were astonishing, and his actions were instrumental in bringing about a positive result.”

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

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

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