We Require a Aircraft to Search For Them’: 13-Year-Old’s Emergency Call to Save Loved Ones Adrift Off Down Under Coast Disclosed

“We ended up adrift out there,” the teenager informs the 000 call handler, after swimming 2.5 miles in treacherous, open water and running 1.25 miles to secure help for his household.

The dispatcher inquires how much time has passed since he set off.

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

Police have made public the emergency phone call made previously after the boy left his loved ones drifting at sea off the West Australian coast to fetch help.

His demeanour remains lucid and collected, even as he expresses his worry for his kin.

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

“Mum said to find rescue … We were in massive trouble.”

The Harrowing Ordeal

The mother and children had been carried four kilometres out to sea in treacherous conditions while using kayaks and paddleboards.

His mother instructed him to take his kayak and locate rescue, so the boy commenced, abandoning first his waterlogged vessel then his cumbersome lifejacket to swim the distance.

After reaching land – following a four-hour swim – he raced for 2km to retrieve a phone.

“Hello, my name is Austin … I have a brother and sister, Beau and Grace. Beau is 12 and Grace is eight,” he states the operator.

“I’m located on the beach right now, and I have to also add – I think I need an paramedic because I think I have exposure … I’m really, I’m extremely tired. I have sunstroke, and I feel like I’m about to faint.”

A Getaway in Peril

The holidaymakers was on holiday in Quindalup, two hundred kilometres south of Perth. They set off from Geographe Bay following 10am on a Friday in late January.

The parent later recalled that they were having fun when the children “drifted further than intended”. The wind picked up, they lost their oars, and started being carried out.

“It kind of all went wrong very, very quickly,” she remarked.

The mother also spoke of having to make “one of the hardest decisions” to send her son to swim ashore.

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

The Successful Mission

The youth described being “very puffed out”.

“I just keep swimming, I do the breaststroke, I do front crawl, I do a floating stroke,” he explained.

The emergency call was made at approximately 6pm.

At about 8.30pm, ten hours after they first set out, the group were located and saved. They had floated about fourteen kilometres 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 light running out.

“What the teenager did was truly remarkable. His fortitude and resolve in those conditions were remarkable, and his actions were instrumental in bringing about a successful outcome.”

The officer also highlighted how the teenager calmly conveyed key facts.

When asked to identify the equipment for the authorities, the teenager said: “They were coloured green and white.”

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