We Require a Helicopter to Search For Them’: Teenager’s Distress Call to Aid Family Stranded Off Down Under Coast Unveiled

“We ended up adrift out there,” the teenager explains to the 000 call handler, following a swim four kilometres in rough, the sea and jogging two kilometres to get assistance for his household.

The call taker inquires how long has passed since he started out.

“[It] was a very long time ago … I think they’re kilometres out to sea. I think we must get a chopper to go find them,” he says.

Police have released the recorded plea made last month after the youth left his loved ones floating at sea off the Western Australian coast to fetch help.

His tone remains clear and calm, even as he details his fear for his family.

“I don’t know what their status is right now, and I’m terrified,” he confides in the operator.

“Mum said go get help … We were in serious danger.”

The Harrowing Ordeal

The holidaymakers had been swept 4km out to sea in rough conditions while enjoying water sports.

His mother instructed him to set out and find help, so the teenager commenced, abandoning first his sinking craft then his unwieldy PFD to cover the remaining stretch.

After reaching land – four hours later – he ran for 1.25 miles to retrieve a mobile phone.

“Hello, my name is Austin … I have two siblings, Beau and Grace. Beau is 12 and Grace is eight,” he states the emergency services.

“I’m sitting on the beach right now, and I have to also explain – I think I need an paramedic 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 collapse.”

A Getaway in Peril

The family was on a break in Quindalup, 125 miles south of Perth. They began their trip from Geographe Bay some time after 10am on a Friday in late January.

The woman later explained that they were having fun when the kids “ventured out too far”. The breeze strengthened, they dropped their paddles, and started drifting.

“It kind of all became dangerous very, very quickly,” she said.

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

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

The Rescue Effort

The youth explained being “extremely winded”.

“I just keep swimming, I do breaststroke, I do front crawl, I do elementary backstroke,” he explained.

The call for help was made at around 6pm.

At around 8.30pm, many hours after they first set out, the family were located and saved. They had floated about 9 miles out to sea.

The recording was made public with the family’s permission.

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

“They were in genuine danger, and time was extremely pressing given how long they had been in the water and with night approaching.

“What Austin did was incredibly brave. His fortitude and resolve in those conditions were astonishing, and his actions were crucial in bringing about a rescue.”

The sergeant also highlighted how the boy clearly relayed key facts.

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 there, but they had this rod, and there was a catch on the line. Since we hooked one.”