We Must Have a Helicopter to Go Find Them’: Adolescent’s Emergency Call to Rescue Relatives Stranded Off Australian Coast Unveiled

“We became disoriented out there,” the teenager explains to the 000 call handler, after swimming four kilometres in rough, open water and running 2km to secure help for his household.

The dispatcher asks how long has gone by since he began.

“[It] was a very long time ago … I think they’re a long way from land. I think we must get a rescue aircraft to go find them,” he reports.

Police have made public the recorded plea made last month after the boy departed from his family adrift at sea off the WA coast to find rescuers.

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

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

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

The Perilous Situation

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

His mother instructed him to use his craft and locate rescue, so the teenager commenced, discarding first his sinking craft then his cumbersome lifejacket to make the journey by swimming.

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

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

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

A Getaway in Peril

The holidaymakers was on vacation in Quindalup, 125 miles south of Perth. They departed from Geographe Bay following 10am on a Friday in late January.

The mother later explained that they were enjoying themselves when the kids “drifted further than intended”. The breeze strengthened, they lost their oars, and started drifting.

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

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

“I knew he was the best swimmer and he was able to manage it,” she commented.

The Rescue Effort

The youth explained being “extremely winded”.

“I just continued swimming, I do the breaststroke, I do freestyle, I do elementary backstroke,” he recalled.

The emergency call was made at around 6pm.

At roughly 8.30pm, many hours after they first departed, the family were found and brought to safety. They had drifted about fourteen kilometres out to sea.

The recording was released with the mother’s permission.

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

“They were in genuine danger, and time was absolutely critical given how long they had been in the water and with light running out.

“What Austin did was nothing short of extraordinary. His fortitude and resolve in those conditions were remarkable, and his actions were instrumental in bringing about a successful outcome.”

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

When asked to detail the paddleboards for the search crew, the teenager said: “They were coloured green and white.”

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