‘We Need a Helicopter to Search For Them’: Teenager’s Distress Call to Save Loved Ones Adrift Off Aussie Coast Revealed

“We got lost out there,” a 13-year-old boy tells the emergency operator, having swum four kilometres in rough, open water and jogging 1.25 miles to secure help for his family.

The operator inquires how long has elapsed since he began.

“[It] was ages past … I think they’re far offshore. I think we need a helicopter to go find them,” he reports.

Emergency services have disclosed the distress call made previously after the youth departed from his loved ones drifting at sea off the Western Australian coast to seek assistance.

His demeanour remains steady and composed, even as he expresses his concern for his family.

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

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

The Perilous Situation

The holidaymakers had been pulled four kilometres out to sea in stormy conditions while kayaking and paddleboarding.

His mum instructed him to set out and find help, so the boy set off, discarding first his failing kayak then his cumbersome lifejacket to make the journey by swimming.

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

“Hello, my name is Austin … I have two siblings, Beau and Grace. Beau is 12 and Grace is eight,” he explains the emergency services.

“I’m sitting on the beach right now, and I have to also mention – I think I need an medical help because I think I have exposure … I’m really, I’m completely exhausted. I have sunstroke, and I feel like I’m about to faint.”

A Holiday Turned Crisis

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

The woman later explained that they were playing around when the children “ventured out too far”. The conditions worsened, they were separated from their equipment, and started floating away.

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

The parent also spoke of having to make “an incredibly tough choice” to ask her son to swim to land.

“I knew he was the best swimmer and he was able to manage it,” she said.

The Successful Mission

The youth recalled being “very puffed out”.

“I just continued swimming, I do breaststroke, I do front crawl, I do survival backstroke,” he explained.

The call for help was made at about 6pm.

At roughly 8.30pm, many hours after they first began, the family were located and saved. They had drifted about 9 miles out to sea.

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

A forward commander who managed the operation said the family was in an “extremely dire situation”.

“They were in real trouble, and time was extremely pressing given how long 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 astonishing, and his actions were instrumental in bringing about a rescue.”

The sergeant also praised how the boy effectively communicated key facts.

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

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