We Must Have a Chopper to Locate Them’: Teenager’s Emergency Call to Aid Family Stranded Off Down Under Coast Revealed

“We got lost out there,” a 13-year-old boy informs the emergency operator, following a swim 4km in treacherous, open water and running two kilometres to secure help for his kin.

The operator inquires how much time has elapsed since he set off.

“[It] was ages past … I think they’re a long way from land. I think we need a helicopter to locate them,” he reports.

Police have released the distress call made last month after the boy left his loved ones drifting at sea off the Western Australian coast to fetch help.

His voice remains lucid and collected, even as he voices his concern for his family.

“I have no idea about what their condition is right now, and I’m terrified,” he informs the dispatcher.

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

The Dangerous Incident

The mother and children had been swept 2.5 miles out to sea in stormy conditions while enjoying water sports.

His mother instructed him to use his craft and locate rescue, so the youth began, abandoning first his failing kayak then his unwieldy PFD to cover the remaining stretch.

After getting to the beach – after an extensive period – he ran for 1.25 miles to retrieve a mobile phone.

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

“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 a dangerously low body temperature … I’m really, I’m completely exhausted. I have hyperthermia, and I feel like I’m about to collapse.”

A Vacation Gone Wrong

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

The woman later recalled that they were enjoying themselves when the young ones “went out a bit too far”. The conditions worsened, they were separated from their equipment, and started drifting.

“It sort of all became dangerous very, very quickly,” she remarked.

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

“I knew he was the most capable and he was able to manage it,” she said.

The Rescue Effort

The teenager described being “completely out of breath”.

“I just keep swimming, I do the breaststroke, I do freestyle, I do survival backstroke,” he said.

The call for help was made at around 6pm.

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

The emergency call was released with the family’s permission.

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

“They were in real trouble, and time was extremely pressing given how much time they had been in the water and with daylight fading.

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

The sergeant also praised how the teenager calmly conveyed vital details.

When asked to identify 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. Because we caught one.”