‘We Need a Aircraft to Search For Them’: Teenager’s Emergency Call to Save Loved Ones Stranded Off Down Under Coast Revealed

“We got lost out there,” a 13-year-old boy informs the 000 call handler, following a swim four kilometres in choppy, open ocean and jogging two kilometres to get assistance for his household.

The dispatcher asks how much time has elapsed since he set off.

“[It] was ages past … I think they’re kilometres out to sea. I think we must get a helicopter to locate them,” he says.

Police have made public the distress call made last month after the teen left his loved ones adrift at sea off the West Australian coast to find rescuers.

His tone remains lucid and collected, even as he voices his worry for his kin.

“I am unsure of what their state is right now, and I’m extremely frightened,” he informs the person on the line.

“Mum said to find rescue … We were in massive trouble.”

The Dangerous Incident

The mother and children had been pulled four kilometres out to sea in treacherous conditions while using kayaks and paddleboards.

His parent instructed him to set out and get assistance, so the teenager set off, abandoning first his failing kayak then his bulky flotation device to cover the remaining stretch.

After making it to shore – following a four-hour swim – he ran for 2km to access a phone.

“Hello, my name is Austin … I have younger siblings, Beau and Grace. Beau is 12 and Grace is eight,” he states 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 hypothermia … I’m really, I’m completely exhausted. I have hyperthermia, and I feel like I’m about to collapse.”

A Holiday Turned Crisis

The group was on holiday in Quindalup, 125 miles south of Perth. They began their trip from Geographe Bay some time after 10am on a Friday in late January.

The mother later described that they were enjoying themselves when the children “ventured out too far”. The conditions worsened, they lost their oars, and started floating away.

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

The mother also described having to make “an incredibly tough choice” to instruct her son to swim ashore.

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

The Successful Mission

The teenager explained being “very puffed out”.

“I just pressed on, I do the breaststroke, I do front crawl, I do survival backstroke,” he said.

The call for help was made at around 6pm.

At about 8.30pm, a full ten hours after they first began, the group were found and brought to safety. They had been carried about 9 miles out to sea.

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

A senior officer who coordinated the rescue mission said the group was in an “incredibly perilous state”.

“They were in genuine danger, and time was absolutely critical given how much time they had been in the water and with night approaching.

“What the boy did was truly remarkable. His fortitude and resolve in those conditions were astonishing, and his actions were crucial in bringing about a successful outcome.”

The officer also praised how the boy clearly relayed vital details.

When asked to detail the equipment for the authorities, the boy responded: “They were green and white.”

“And I’m not sure if it’s there, but they had this rod, and there was a fish on there. Since we managed to catch a fish.”