🔗 Share this article ‘We Need a Helicopter to Locate Them’: 13-Year-Old’s Emergency Call to Aid Family Adrift Off Aussie Coast Revealed “We got lost out there,” a 13-year-old boy explains to the emergency operator, having swum 4km in choppy, the sea and sprinting 2km to get assistance for his kin. The dispatcher asks how much time has gone by since he began. “[It] was ages past … I think they’re kilometres out to sea. I think we require a helicopter to search for them,” he says. Authorities have made public the distress call made last month after the boy left his loved ones adrift at sea off the Western Australian coast to seek assistance. His tone remains lucid and collected, even as he details his fear for his family members. “I am unsure of what their status is right now, and I’m terrified,” he tells the operator. “Mum said to seek assistance … We were in grave peril.” The Dangerous Incident The holidaymakers had been carried four kilometres out to sea in stormy conditions while using kayaks and paddleboards. His mum instructed him to use his craft and get assistance, so the boy began, abandoning first his waterlogged vessel then his bulky flotation device to swim the distance. After reaching land – following a four-hour swim – he ran for 2km to access a 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 operator. “I’m sitting on the beach right now, and I have to also mention – I think I need an paramedic because I think I have exposure … I’m really, I’m completely exhausted. I have sunstroke, and I feel like I’m about to pass out.” A Getaway in Peril The holidaymakers was on holiday in Quindalup, 200km south of Perth. They began their trip from Geographe Bay following 10am on a Friday in late January. The parent later explained that they were having fun when the young ones “ventured out too far”. The breeze strengthened, they dropped their paddles, and started drifting. “It sort of all went wrong very, very quickly,” she said. The parent also described having to make “an incredibly tough choice” to instruct her son to swim to land. “I knew he was the best swimmer and he had the ability to succeed,” she said. The Rescue Effort The youth described being “very puffed out”. “I just continued swimming, I do the breaststroke, I do freestyle, I do survival backstroke,” he explained. The distress call was made at approximately 6pm. At around 8.30pm, many hours after they first began, the group were located and saved. They had drifted about 14km out to sea. The emergency call was made public with the family’s permission. A forward commander who managed the rescue mission said the group was in an “incredibly perilous state”. “They were in real trouble, and time was extremely pressing given how much time they had been in the water and with night approaching. “What the boy did was incredibly brave. His bravery and courage in those conditions were exceptional, and his actions were instrumental in bringing about a positive result.” The officer also commended how the youth calmly conveyed key facts. When asked to identify the boards 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 fishing line, and there was a fish hooked. As we managed to catch a fish.”
“We got lost out there,” a 13-year-old boy explains to the emergency operator, having swum 4km in choppy, the sea and sprinting 2km to get assistance for his kin. The dispatcher asks how much time has gone by since he began. “[It] was ages past … I think they’re kilometres out to sea. I think we require a helicopter to search for them,” he says. Authorities have made public the distress call made last month after the boy left his loved ones adrift at sea off the Western Australian coast to seek assistance. His tone remains lucid and collected, even as he details his fear for his family members. “I am unsure of what their status is right now, and I’m terrified,” he tells the operator. “Mum said to seek assistance … We were in grave peril.” The Dangerous Incident The holidaymakers had been carried four kilometres out to sea in stormy conditions while using kayaks and paddleboards. His mum instructed him to use his craft and get assistance, so the boy began, abandoning first his waterlogged vessel then his bulky flotation device to swim the distance. After reaching land – following a four-hour swim – he ran for 2km to access a 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 operator. “I’m sitting on the beach right now, and I have to also mention – I think I need an paramedic because I think I have exposure … I’m really, I’m completely exhausted. I have sunstroke, and I feel like I’m about to pass out.” A Getaway in Peril The holidaymakers was on holiday in Quindalup, 200km south of Perth. They began their trip from Geographe Bay following 10am on a Friday in late January. The parent later explained that they were having fun when the young ones “ventured out too far”. The breeze strengthened, they dropped their paddles, and started drifting. “It sort of all went wrong very, very quickly,” she said. The parent also described having to make “an incredibly tough choice” to instruct her son to swim to land. “I knew he was the best swimmer and he had the ability to succeed,” she said. The Rescue Effort The youth described being “very puffed out”. “I just continued swimming, I do the breaststroke, I do freestyle, I do survival backstroke,” he explained. The distress call was made at approximately 6pm. At around 8.30pm, many hours after they first began, the group were located and saved. They had drifted about 14km out to sea. The emergency call was made public with the family’s permission. A forward commander who managed the rescue mission said the group was in an “incredibly perilous state”. “They were in real trouble, and time was extremely pressing given how much time they had been in the water and with night approaching. “What the boy did was incredibly brave. His bravery and courage in those conditions were exceptional, and his actions were instrumental in bringing about a positive result.” The officer also commended how the youth calmly conveyed key facts. When asked to identify the boards 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 fishing line, and there was a fish hooked. As we managed to catch a fish.”