We Require a Helicopter to Go Find Them’: 13-Year-Old’s Emergency Call to Rescue Relatives Adrift Off Down Under Coast Disclosed

“We got lost out there,” the teenager tells the triple-zero dispatcher, following a swim four kilometres in treacherous, the sea and sprinting 1.25 miles to secure help for his kin.

The dispatcher inquires how much time has passed since he set off.

“[It] was ages past … I think they’re a long way from land. I think we need a chopper to locate them,” he reports.

Police have made public the emergency phone call made in recent weeks after the teen departed from his family adrift at sea off the WA coast to fetch help.

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

“I don’t know what their status is right now, and I’m terrified,” he confides in the dispatcher.

“Mum said go get help … We were in grave peril.”

The Harrowing Ordeal

The family group had been pulled 4km out to sea in treacherous conditions while using kayaks and paddleboards.

His parent asked him to use his craft and find help, so the boy commenced, discarding first his sinking craft then his cumbersome lifejacket to cover the remaining stretch.

After getting to the beach – after an extensive period – he sprinted for 1.25 miles 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 tells the operator.

“I’m sitting on the beach right now, and I have to also explain – I think I need an medical help because I think I have exposure … I’m really, I’m utterly fatigued. I have sunstroke, and I feel like I’m about to collapse.”

A Holiday Turned Crisis

The family was on a break in Quindalup, two hundred kilometres south of Perth. They departed from Geographe Bay following 10am on a Friday in late January.

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

“It sort of all became dangerous very, very quickly,” she remarked.

The parent also referenced having to make “an incredibly tough choice” to send her son to make the swim for help.

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

The Successful Mission

The boy described being “completely out of breath”.

“I just keep swimming, I do the breaststroke, I do freestyle, I do survival backstroke,” he recalled.

The distress call was made at approximately 6pm.

At about 8.30pm, ten hours after they first departed, the group were located and saved. They had drifted about 14km out to sea.

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

A police sergeant who coordinated the operation said the family was in an “desperately dangerous position”.

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

“What the boy did was truly remarkable. His bravery and courage in those conditions were astonishing, and his actions were pivotal in bringing about a positive result.”

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

When asked to describe the paddleboards for the authorities, the youth 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. Because we managed to catch a fish.”