We Must Have a Helicopter to Search For Them’: 13-Year-Old’s Urgent Plea to Rescue Family Adrift Off Australian Coast Disclosed

“We became disoriented out there,” a 13-year-old boy informs the 000 call handler, following a swim 2.5 miles in choppy, open ocean and sprinting 1.25 miles to secure help for his kin.

The operator questions how long has elapsed since he set off.

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

Authorities have disclosed the recorded plea made previously after the teen left his loved ones drifting at sea off the WA coast to seek assistance.

His demeanour remains clear and calm, even as he details his fear for his family.

“I don’t know what their status is right now, and I’m really scared,” he confides in the person on the line.

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

The Dangerous Incident

The holidaymakers had been pulled four kilometres out to sea in stormy conditions while enjoying water sports.

His parent instructed him to use his craft and get assistance, so the teenager set off, abandoning first his sinking craft then his unwieldy PFD to make the journey by swimming.

After making it to shore – following a four-hour swim – he raced for 1.25 miles to get to a mobile phone.

“Hello, my name is Austin … I have two siblings, 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 a dangerously low body temperature … I’m really, I’m extremely tired. I have hyperthermia, and I feel like I’m about to collapse.”

A Getaway in Peril

The group was on a break in Quindalup, 200km south of Perth. They departed from Geographe Bay some time after 10am on a Friday in late January.

The parent later described that they were playing around when the kids “went out a bit too far”. The breeze strengthened, they lost their oars, and started being carried out.

“It kind of all turned bad very, very quickly,” she noted.

The mother also spoke of having to make “one of the hardest decisions” to ask her son to swim ashore.

“I knew he was the best swimmer and he could do it,” she commented.

The Search Operation

The boy recalled being “very puffed out”.

“I just keep swimming, I do breaststroke, I do front crawl, I do elementary backstroke,” he said.

The distress call was made at around 6pm.

At roughly 8.30pm, many hours after they first set out, the group were found and brought to safety. They had been carried about 9 miles out to sea.

The recording was released with the family’s permission.

A forward commander who oversaw the operation said the group was in an “incredibly perilous state”.

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

“What the teenager did was truly remarkable. His fortitude and resolve in those conditions were remarkable, and his actions were instrumental in bringing about a rescue.”

The officer also commended how the teenager clearly relayed key facts.

When asked to describe the equipment for the search crew, the boy responded: “They were a green and white colour.”

“And I’m not sure if it’s there, but they had this rod, and there was a fish on there. As we managed to catch a fish.”