🔗 Share this article We Must Have a Helicopter to Search For Them’: Adolescent’s Urgent Plea to Rescue Family Adrift Off Australian Coast Revealed “We became disoriented out there,” the teenager explains to the 000 call handler, after swimming 2.5 miles in rough, open water and running 1.25 miles to get assistance for his kin. The call taker inquires how much time has passed since he began. “[It] was ages past … I think they’re a long way from land. I think we need a helicopter to go find them,” he reports. Authorities have released the emergency phone call made last month after the youth left his family adrift at sea off the Western Australian coast to seek assistance. His voice remains steady and composed, even as he details his fear for his family. “I am unsure of what their condition is right now, and I’m terrified,” he confides in the person on the line. “Mum said go get help … We were in massive trouble.” The Harrowing Ordeal The holidaymakers had been swept 2.5 miles out to sea in treacherous conditions while kayaking and paddleboarding. His mum urged him to take his kayak and get assistance, so the boy commenced, abandoning first his waterlogged vessel then his bulky flotation device to make the journey by swimming. After making it to shore – following a four-hour swim – he raced for 2km 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 call handler. “I’m located on the beach right now, and I have to also mention – I think I need an medical help because I think I have hypothermia … I’m really, I’m utterly fatigued. I have hyperthermia, and I feel like I’m about to pass out.” A Getaway in Peril The holidaymakers was on a break in Quindalup, 200km south of Perth. They departed from Geographe Bay following 10am on a Friday in late January. The parent later described that they were playing around when the young ones “ventured out too far”. The breeze strengthened, they dropped their paddles, and started being carried out. “It pretty much all turned bad very, very quickly,” she noted. The parent also described having to make “one of the hardest decisions” to ask her son to swim to land. “I knew he was the most capable and he was able to manage it,” she stated. The Successful Mission The youth described being “very puffed out”. “I just continued swimming, I do breaststroke, I do front crawl, I do survival backstroke,” he explained. The emergency call was made at approximately 6pm. At around 8.30pm, many hours after they first set out, the stranded individuals were found and brought to safety. They had been carried about 9 miles out to sea. The audio was shared with the family’s permission. A police sergeant who oversaw the search and rescue effort said the family was in an “incredibly perilous state”. “They were in serious jeopardy, and time was extremely pressing given how long they had been in the water and with daylight fading. “What Austin did was nothing short of extraordinary. His heroic actions in those conditions were astonishing, and his actions were pivotal in bringing about a successful outcome.” The officer also praised how the boy clearly relayed vital details. When asked to identify the boards for the rescue team, the teenager replied: “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 managed to catch a fish.”
“We became disoriented out there,” the teenager explains to the 000 call handler, after swimming 2.5 miles in rough, open water and running 1.25 miles to get assistance for his kin. The call taker inquires how much time has passed since he began. “[It] was ages past … I think they’re a long way from land. I think we need a helicopter to go find them,” he reports. Authorities have released the emergency phone call made last month after the youth left his family adrift at sea off the Western Australian coast to seek assistance. His voice remains steady and composed, even as he details his fear for his family. “I am unsure of what their condition is right now, and I’m terrified,” he confides in the person on the line. “Mum said go get help … We were in massive trouble.” The Harrowing Ordeal The holidaymakers had been swept 2.5 miles out to sea in treacherous conditions while kayaking and paddleboarding. His mum urged him to take his kayak and get assistance, so the boy commenced, abandoning first his waterlogged vessel then his bulky flotation device to make the journey by swimming. After making it to shore – following a four-hour swim – he raced for 2km 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 call handler. “I’m located on the beach right now, and I have to also mention – I think I need an medical help because I think I have hypothermia … I’m really, I’m utterly fatigued. I have hyperthermia, and I feel like I’m about to pass out.” A Getaway in Peril The holidaymakers was on a break in Quindalup, 200km south of Perth. They departed from Geographe Bay following 10am on a Friday in late January. The parent later described that they were playing around when the young ones “ventured out too far”. The breeze strengthened, they dropped their paddles, and started being carried out. “It pretty much all turned bad very, very quickly,” she noted. The parent also described having to make “one of the hardest decisions” to ask her son to swim to land. “I knew he was the most capable and he was able to manage it,” she stated. The Successful Mission The youth described being “very puffed out”. “I just continued swimming, I do breaststroke, I do front crawl, I do survival backstroke,” he explained. The emergency call was made at approximately 6pm. At around 8.30pm, many hours after they first set out, the stranded individuals were found and brought to safety. They had been carried about 9 miles out to sea. The audio was shared with the family’s permission. A police sergeant who oversaw the search and rescue effort said the family was in an “incredibly perilous state”. “They were in serious jeopardy, and time was extremely pressing given how long they had been in the water and with daylight fading. “What Austin did was nothing short of extraordinary. His heroic actions in those conditions were astonishing, and his actions were pivotal in bringing about a successful outcome.” The officer also praised how the boy clearly relayed vital details. When asked to identify the boards for the rescue team, the teenager replied: “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 managed to catch a fish.”