We Require a Aircraft to Locate Them’: Adolescent’s Urgent Plea to Rescue Relatives Stranded Off Down Under Coast Revealed

“We ended up adrift out there,” a 13-year-old boy informs the triple-zero dispatcher, having swum 2.5 miles in treacherous, open water and running 1.25 miles to get assistance for his family.

The dispatcher asks how much time has elapsed since he started out.

“[It] was a very long time ago … I think they’re a long way from land. I think we must get a helicopter to search for them,” he states.

Authorities have disclosed the recorded plea made in recent weeks after the teen left his relatives drifting at sea off the Western Australian coast to seek assistance.

His voice remains steady and composed, even as he voices his worry for his kin.

“I don’t know what their condition is right now, and I’m really scared,” he confides in the operator.

“Mum said to find rescue … We were in serious danger.”

The Perilous Situation

The family group had been pulled 4km out to sea in treacherous conditions while kayaking and paddleboarding.

His mother urged him to take his kayak and get assistance, so the youth set off, ditching first his failing kayak then his unwieldy PFD to swim the distance.

After reaching land – four hours later – he ran 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 states the call handler.

“I’m positioned on the beach right now, and I have to also explain – I think I need an medical help because I think I have a dangerously low body temperature … I’m really, I’m completely exhausted. I have hyperthermia, and I feel like I’m about to pass out.”

A Holiday Turned Crisis

The holidaymakers was on a break in Quindalup, 125 miles 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 wind picked up, they dropped their paddles, and started drifting.

“It pretty much all became dangerous very, very quickly,” she noted.

The mother also referenced having to make “a terribly difficult call” to instruct her son to make the swim for help.

“I knew he was the strongest and he was able to manage it,” she stated.

The Successful Mission

The youth explained being “very puffed out”.

“I just continued swimming, I do breaststroke, I do freestyle, I do survival backstroke,” he said.

The distress call was made at about 6pm.

At about 8.30pm, ten hours after they first departed, the group were spotted and rescued. They had drifted about 9 miles out to sea.

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

A police sergeant who oversaw the operation said the family was in an “extremely dire situation”.

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

“What the boy did was nothing short of extraordinary. His heroic actions in those conditions were exceptional, and his actions were pivotal in bringing about a successful outcome.”

The sergeant also commended how the teenager effectively communicated critical information.

When asked to describe the boards for the rescue team, the teenager said: “They were green and white.”

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