We Require a Chopper to Locate Them’: 13-Year-Old’s Distress Call to Aid Loved Ones Lost Off Aussie Coast Revealed

“We ended up adrift out there,” the teenager informs the 000 call handler, following a swim 4km in rough, open water and running 2km to secure help for his household.

The dispatcher asks how much time has passed 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 reports.

Emergency services have disclosed the distress call made in recent weeks after the youth departed from his family adrift at sea off the Western Australian coast to find rescuers.

His tone remains lucid and collected, even as he details his concern for his family.

“I have no idea about what their state is right now, and I’m extremely frightened,” he informs the dispatcher.

“Mum said go get help … We were in serious danger.”

The Perilous Situation

The holidaymakers had been swept 2.5 miles out to sea in treacherous conditions while using kayaks and paddleboards.

His mum asked him to take his kayak and find help, so the teenager began, discarding first his sinking craft then his unwieldy PFD to cover the remaining stretch.

After getting to the beach – after an extensive period – he ran for two kilometres 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 explain – I think I need an ambulance because I think I have hypothermia … I’m really, I’m utterly fatigued. I have sunstroke, and I feel like I’m about to pass out.”

A Getaway in Peril

The holidaymakers 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 woman later described that they were playing around when the young ones “drifted further than intended”. The wind picked up, they dropped their paddles, and started drifting.

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

The parent also referenced having to make “a terribly difficult call” to send her son to make the swim for help.

“I knew he was the most capable and he had the ability to succeed,” she stated.

The Search Operation

The youth explained being “very puffed out”.

“I just continued swimming, I do the breaststroke, I do freestyle, I do survival backstroke,” he explained.

The emergency call was made at approximately 6pm.

At about 8.30pm, a full ten hours after they first began, the family were located and saved. They had been carried about 14km out to sea.

The recording was shared with the mother’s permission.

A forward commander who coordinated the rescue mission said the family was in an “extremely dire situation”.

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

“What the teenager did was nothing short of extraordinary. His bravery and courage in those conditions were astonishing, and his actions were crucial in bringing about a positive result.”

The sergeant also praised how the youth effectively communicated vital details.

When asked to detail the paddleboards for the rescue team, the boy replied: “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 catch on the line. Because we hooked one.”