‘We Need a Aircraft to Locate Them’: Adolescent’s Distress Call to Save Family Lost Off Down Under Coast Disclosed

“We got lost out there,” a 13-year-old boy informs the 000 call handler, after swimming four kilometres in treacherous, the sea and sprinting two kilometres to get assistance for his household.

The call taker asks how much time has passed since he set off.

“[It] was quite some time back … I think they’re kilometres out to sea. I think we must get a helicopter to locate them,” he reports.

Authorities have disclosed the distress call made in recent weeks after the teen left his family adrift at sea off the Western Australian coast to fetch help.

His tone remains steady and composed, even as he expresses his fear for his family members.

“I am unsure of what their condition is right now, and I’m terrified,” he informs the operator.

“Mum said to find rescue … We were in grave peril.”

The Harrowing Ordeal

The family group had been swept 4km out to sea in treacherous conditions while enjoying water sports.

His parent asked him to take his kayak and find help, so the boy set off, discarding first his sinking craft then his cumbersome lifejacket to swim the distance.

After making it to shore – after an extensive period – he raced for 2km to retrieve a phone.

“Hello, my name is Austin … I have younger siblings, Beau and Grace. Beau is 12 and Grace is eight,” he states the emergency services.

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

A Vacation Gone Wrong

The holidaymakers was on vacation in Quindalup, 125 miles south of Perth. They set off from Geographe Bay some time after 10am on a Friday in late January.

The mother later recalled that they were enjoying themselves when the young ones “drifted further than intended”. The conditions worsened, they lost their oars, and started being carried out.

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

The parent also referenced having to make “a terribly difficult call” to send her son to swim to land.

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

The Successful Mission

The teenager explained being “very puffed out”.

“I just pressed on, I do the breaststroke, I do front crawl, I do elementary backstroke,” he said.

The emergency call was made at approximately 6pm.

At around 8.30pm, a full ten hours after they first began, the family were found and brought to safety. They had drifted about 9 miles out to sea.

The emergency call was shared with the parents' permission.

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

“They were in serious jeopardy, and time was of the essence given how much time they had been in the water and with night approaching.

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

The officer also highlighted how the youth clearly relayed key facts.

When asked to identify the paddleboards for the rescue team, the boy responded: “They were green and white.”

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