We Require a Aircraft to Go Find Them’: 13-Year-Old’s Emergency Call to Rescue Family Lost Off Aussie Coast Unveiled

“We ended up adrift out there,” a 13-year-old boy informs the triple-zero dispatcher, having swum 4km in treacherous, the sea and jogging 2km to summon rescue for his household.

The operator questions how long has passed since he started out.

“[It] was a very long time ago … I think they’re kilometres out to sea. I think we must get a chopper to locate them,” he states.

Police have disclosed the distress call made last month after the youth departed from his loved ones floating at sea off the Western Australian coast to fetch help.

His demeanour remains lucid and collected, even as he expresses his concern for his family members.

“I am unsure of what their status 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 family group had been pulled 4km out to sea in treacherous conditions while enjoying water sports.

His mother asked him to take his kayak and get assistance, so the boy commenced, discarding first his failing kayak then his unwieldy PFD to make the journey by swimming.

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 younger siblings, Beau and Grace. Beau is 12 and Grace is eight,” he tells the operator.

“I’m located on the beach right now, and I have to also add – I think I need an ambulance because I think I have exposure … I’m really, I’m extremely tired. I have heatstroke, and I feel like I’m about to pass out.”

A Vacation Gone Wrong

The family was on a break in Quindalup, 125 miles south of Perth. They departed from Geographe Bay some time after 10am on a Friday in late January.

The parent later explained that they were having fun when the children “ventured out too far”. The breeze strengthened, they lost their oars, and started floating away.

“It sort of all turned bad very, very quickly,” she said.

The parent also described having to make “an incredibly tough choice” to instruct her son to swim to land.

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

The Rescue Effort

The boy explained being “extremely winded”.

“I just pressed on, I do the breaststroke, I do freestyle, I do elementary backstroke,” he recalled.

The call for help was made at around 6pm.

At roughly 8.30pm, ten hours after they first set out, the stranded individuals were found and brought to safety. They had floated about 14km out to sea.

The emergency call was made public with the mother’s permission.

A forward commander who coordinated 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 much time they had been in the water and with night approaching.

“What the teenager did was nothing short of extraordinary. His fortitude and resolve in those conditions were remarkable, and his actions were pivotal in bringing about a rescue.”

The sergeant also praised how the youth calmly conveyed critical information.

When asked to identify the equipment for the search crew, the teenager replied: “They were coloured green and white.”

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