‘We Need a Helicopter to Locate Them’: 13-Year-Old’s Urgent Plea to Save Relatives Stranded Off Down Under Coast Revealed

“We got lost out there,” the teenager explains to the triple-zero dispatcher, following a swim 2.5 miles in treacherous, open ocean and sprinting 2km to get assistance for his household.

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

“[It] was ages past … I think they’re far offshore. I think we must get a rescue aircraft to locate them,” he reports.

Emergency services have released the distress call made last month after the boy left his relatives adrift at sea off the West Australian coast to fetch help.

His voice remains lucid and collected, even as he expresses his worry for his kin.

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

“Mum said to seek assistance … We were in serious danger.”

The Harrowing Ordeal

The mother and children had been pulled 2.5 miles out to sea in stormy conditions while kayaking and paddleboarding.

His parent asked him to take his kayak and locate rescue, so the teenager set off, abandoning first his sinking craft then his cumbersome lifejacket to cover the remaining stretch.

After getting to the beach – four hours later – he ran for two kilometres to access a mobile 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 positioned on the beach right now, and I have to also add – I think I need an ambulance because I think I have hypothermia … I’m really, I’m extremely tired. I have sunstroke, and I feel like I’m about to pass out.”

A Vacation Gone Wrong

The family was on vacation in Quindalup, 125 miles south of Perth. They departed from Geographe Bay following 10am on a Friday in late January.

The parent later explained that they were playing around when the young ones “went out a bit too far”. The wind picked up, they lost their oars, and started drifting.

“It pretty much all went wrong very, very quickly,” she remarked.

The parent also described having to make “one of the hardest decisions” to send her son to swim to land.

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

The Rescue Effort

The boy explained being “completely out of breath”.

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

The emergency call was made at approximately 6pm.

At about 8.30pm, many hours after they first departed, the family were found and brought to safety. They had been carried about fourteen kilometres out to sea.

The emergency call was released with the parents' permission.

A senior officer who oversaw the search and rescue effort said the family was in an “desperately dangerous position”.

“They were in real trouble, and time was of the essence given how much time they had been in the water and with daylight fading.

“What Austin did was truly remarkable. His bravery and courage in those conditions were remarkable, and his actions were crucial in bringing about a successful outcome.”

The commander also praised how the teenager calmly conveyed vital details.

When asked to describe the boards for the search crew, the youth replied: “They were green and white.”

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