We Require a Helicopter to Locate Them’: Adolescent’s Emergency Call to Aid Relatives Adrift Off Aussie Coast Revealed

“We ended up adrift out there,” the teenager explains to the emergency operator, after swimming 4km in choppy, open ocean and running 1.25 miles to get assistance for his kin.

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

“[It] was ages past … I think they’re far offshore. I think we must get a rescue aircraft to locate them,” he states.

Authorities have released the recorded plea made previously after the boy departed from his loved ones adrift at sea off the WA coast to fetch help.

His voice remains clear and calm, even as he voices his concern for his family members.

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

“Mum said go get help … We were in massive trouble.”

The Harrowing Ordeal

The mother and children had been swept 2.5 miles out to sea in rough conditions while using kayaks and paddleboards.

His parent instructed him to set out and find help, so the boy began, ditching first his failing kayak then his unwieldy PFD to cover the remaining stretch.

After getting to the beach – following a four-hour swim – he sprinted for two kilometres to access a mobile phone.

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

“I’m located on the beach right now, and I have to also mention – I think I need an medical help because I think I have hypothermia … I’m really, I’m extremely tired. I have heatstroke, and I feel like I’m about to collapse.”

A Holiday Turned Crisis

The family was on holiday in Quindalup, 200km south of Perth. They set off from Geographe Bay following 10am on a Friday in late January.

The parent later recalled that they were playing around when the children “went out a bit too far”. The conditions worsened, they were separated from their equipment, and started floating away.

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

The parent also spoke of having to make “an incredibly tough choice” to send her son to swim to land.

“I knew he was the most capable and he had the ability to succeed,” she commented.

The Successful Mission

The youth recalled being “very puffed out”.

“I just pressed on, I do the breaststroke, I do freestyle, I do survival backstroke,” he explained.

The call for help was made at around 6pm.

At roughly 8.30pm, many hours after they first departed, the group were located and saved. They had been carried about fourteen kilometres out to sea.

The emergency call was shared with the parents' permission.

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

“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 incredibly brave. His fortitude and resolve in those conditions were exceptional, and his actions were pivotal in bringing about a positive result.”

The officer also praised how the teenager clearly relayed vital details.

When asked to detail the equipment for the authorities, the youth 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 catch on the line. Because we managed to catch a fish.”