We Require a Aircraft to Search For Them’: Adolescent’s Emergency Call to Aid Relatives Stranded Off Down Under Coast Revealed

“We ended up adrift out there,” a 13-year-old boy tells the emergency operator, having swum 4km in rough, open water and running 2km to secure help for his household.

The operator inquires how long has gone by since he started out.

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

Authorities have released the distress call made previously after the boy left his relatives drifting at sea off the Western Australian coast to fetch help.

His demeanour remains steady and composed, even as he details his concern for his kin.

“I have no idea about what their condition is right now, and I’m extremely frightened,” he confides in the person on the line.

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

The Dangerous Incident

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

His parent urged him to take his kayak and find help, so the teenager commenced, abandoning first his failing kayak then his cumbersome lifejacket to cover the remaining stretch.

After getting to the beach – following a four-hour swim – he raced 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 operator.

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

A Getaway in Peril

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

The mother later described that they were enjoying themselves when the children “went out a bit too far”. The conditions worsened, they were separated from their equipment, and started being carried out.

“It sort of all went wrong very, very quickly,” she remarked.

The parent 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 strongest and he was able to manage it,” she stated.

The Successful Mission

The boy described being “very puffed out”.

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

The call for help was made at approximately 6pm.

At around 8.30pm, ten hours after they first departed, the stranded individuals were located and saved. They had floated about fourteen kilometres out to sea.

The emergency call was shared with the parents' permission.

A police sergeant who coordinated the operation said the family was in an “incredibly perilous state”.

“They were in serious jeopardy, and time was of the essence given how much time they had been in the water and with night approaching.

“What the boy did was incredibly brave. His fortitude and resolve in those conditions were exceptional, and his actions were crucial in bringing about a rescue.”

The commander also highlighted how the youth effectively communicated critical information.

When asked to describe the boards for the search crew, the boy replied: “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 on there. As we caught one.”