We Require a Chopper to Search For Them’: 13-Year-Old’s Distress Call to Rescue Family Lost Off Australian Coast Revealed

“We got lost out there,” the teenager informs the 000 call handler, following a swim four kilometres in choppy, open water and running 2km to secure help for his kin.

The operator asks how long has passed since he set off.

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

Authorities have made public the recorded plea made previously after the teen left his family drifting at sea off the West Australian coast to find rescuers.

His tone remains clear and calm, even as he expresses his concern for his kin.

“I have no idea about what their state is right now, and I’m extremely frightened,” he confides in the operator.

“Mum said to seek assistance … We were in grave peril.”

The Harrowing Ordeal

The holidaymakers had been pulled four kilometres out to sea in treacherous conditions while enjoying water sports.

His mother urged him to use his craft and get assistance, so the youth set off, ditching first his failing kayak then his cumbersome lifejacket to make the journey by swimming.

After getting to the beach – four hours later – he raced 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 located on the beach right now, and I have to also add – I think I need an ambulance because I think I have a dangerously low body temperature … I’m really, I’m utterly fatigued. I have heatstroke, and I feel like I’m about to pass out.”

A Vacation Gone Wrong

The family was on vacation in Quindalup, 200km south of Perth. They began their trip from Geographe Bay around 10am on a Friday in late January.

The parent later described that they were having fun when the young ones “ventured out too far”. The breeze strengthened, they were separated from their equipment, and started being carried out.

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

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

“I knew he was the most capable and he could do it,” she stated.

The Search Operation

The youth described being “completely out of breath”.

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

The emergency call was made at around 6pm.

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

The emergency call was shared with the mother’s permission.

A police sergeant who coordinated the search and rescue effort said the family was in an “extremely dire situation”.

“They were in serious jeopardy, and time was absolutely critical given how much time they had been in the water and with light running out.

“What the boy did was nothing short of extraordinary. His bravery and courage in those conditions were astonishing, and his actions were pivotal in bringing about a positive result.”

The commander also commended how the boy effectively communicated critical information.

When asked to detail the equipment for the rescue team, the youth said: “They were coloured green and white.”

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