We Require a Aircraft to Search For Them’: Adolescent’s Emergency Call to Save Relatives Adrift Off Aussie Coast Revealed

“We got lost out there,” a 13-year-old boy tells the emergency operator, after swimming four kilometres in treacherous, open ocean and running two kilometres to summon rescue for his household.

The call taker inquires how much time has gone by since he set off.

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

Authorities have released the recorded plea made previously after the teen departed from his relatives floating at sea off the West Australian coast to seek assistance.

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

“I am unsure of what their condition is right now, and I’m really scared,” he tells the dispatcher.

“Mum said to seek assistance … We were in serious danger.”

The Dangerous Incident

The mother and children had been carried 4km out to sea in treacherous conditions while kayaking and paddleboarding.

His parent asked him to take his kayak and find help, so the boy began, ditching first his failing kayak then his bulky flotation device to cover the remaining stretch.

After making it to shore – following a four-hour swim – he sprinted for 1.25 miles to get to a mobile 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 call handler.

“I’m positioned on the beach right now, and I have to also add – I think I need an paramedic because I think I have hypothermia … I’m really, I’m extremely tired. I have hyperthermia, and I feel like I’m about to collapse.”

A Holiday Turned Crisis

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

The mother later recalled that they were enjoying themselves when the children “ventured out too far”. The breeze strengthened, they dropped their paddles, and started being carried out.

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

The mother also referenced having to make “one of the hardest decisions” to instruct her son to make the swim for help.

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

The Successful Mission

The boy described being “extremely winded”.

“I just keep swimming, I do the breaststroke, I do freestyle, I do a floating stroke,” he said.

The emergency call was made at around 6pm.

At about 8.30pm, a full ten hours after they first began, the group were found and brought to safety. They had drifted about 14km out to sea.

The audio was made public with the parents' permission.

A police sergeant who managed the search and rescue effort said the group was in an “incredibly perilous state”.

“They were in real trouble, and time was extremely pressing given how much time they had been in the water and with night approaching.

“What the boy did was incredibly brave. His heroic actions in those conditions were exceptional, and his actions were pivotal in bringing about a positive result.”

The officer also praised how the boy clearly relayed critical information.

When asked to detail the equipment for the search crew, 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.”