We Must Have a Chopper to Locate Them’: Adolescent’s Urgent Plea to Aid Relatives Stranded Off Australian Coast Disclosed

“We got lost out there,” a 13-year-old boy tells the emergency operator, following a swim 2.5 miles in choppy, open water and sprinting 2km to get assistance for his kin.

The dispatcher questions how much time has passed since he started out.

“[It] was a very long time ago … I think they’re far offshore. I think we require a helicopter to locate them,” he reports.

Emergency services have made public the recorded plea made last month after the teen departed from his family adrift at sea off the Western Australian coast to fetch help.

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

“I am unsure of what their condition is right now, and I’m extremely frightened,” he confides in the operator.

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

The Perilous Situation

The holidaymakers had been pulled four kilometres out to sea in treacherous conditions while kayaking and paddleboarding.

His mum instructed him to take his kayak and get assistance, so the boy commenced, ditching first his failing kayak then his cumbersome lifejacket to cover the remaining stretch.

After getting to the beach – four hours later – he sprinted for two kilometres to access a cell phone.

“Hello, my name is Austin … I have a brother and sister, 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 add – I think I need an medical help because I think I have a dangerously low body temperature … I’m really, I’m extremely tired. I have sunstroke, and I feel like I’m about to pass out.”

A Getaway in Peril

The family was on a break in Quindalup, 125 miles south of Perth. They set off from Geographe Bay around 10am on a Friday in late January.

The parent later recalled that they were having fun when the kids “drifted further than intended”. The conditions worsened, they dropped their paddles, and started drifting.

“It pretty much all went wrong very, very quickly,” she noted.

The parent also spoke of having to make “a terribly difficult call” to ask her son to swim to land.

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

The Rescue Effort

The boy recalled being “completely out of breath”.

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

The call for help was made at around 6pm.

At roughly 8.30pm, ten hours after they first set out, the stranded individuals were spotted and rescued. They had been carried about 9 miles out to sea.

The emergency call was made public with the family’s permission.

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

“They were in real trouble, and time was of the essence given how long they had been in the water and with night approaching.

“What the boy did was incredibly brave. His heroic actions in those conditions were exceptional, and his actions were pivotal in bringing about a positive result.”

The officer also commended how the youth calmly conveyed vital details.

When asked to detail the equipment for the search crew, the youth responded: “They were a green and white colour.”

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