We Require a Chopper to Locate Them’: Adolescent’s Distress Call to Save Loved Ones Lost Off Australian Coast Unveiled

“We became disoriented out there,” the teenager tells the 000 call handler, having swum 4km in rough, open ocean and jogging 1.25 miles to secure help for his household.

The call taker questions how much time has gone by since he began.

“[It] was quite some time back … I think they’re a long way from land. I think we require a helicopter to go find them,” he reports.

Emergency services have disclosed the distress call made previously after the teen departed from his relatives adrift at sea off the Western Australian coast to find rescuers.

His demeanour remains steady and composed, even as he details his fear for his kin.

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

“Mum said to seek assistance … We were in serious danger.”

The Harrowing Ordeal

The family group had been carried 2.5 miles out to sea in stormy conditions while enjoying water sports.

His mum asked him to take his kayak and get assistance, so the youth began, abandoning first his failing kayak then his cumbersome lifejacket to swim the distance.

After getting to the beach – following a four-hour swim – he sprinted for two kilometres to get to a 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 explain – I think I need an ambulance 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 began their trip from Geographe Bay some time after 10am on a Friday in late January.

The mother later described that they were having fun when the children “drifted further than intended”. The breeze strengthened, they were separated from their equipment, and started drifting.

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

The mother also referenced having to make “a terribly difficult call” to instruct her son to make the swim for help.

“I knew he was the best swimmer and he had the ability to succeed,” she stated.

The Successful Mission

The boy described being “very puffed out”.

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

The distress call was made at around 6pm.

At about 8.30pm, ten hours after they first set out, the family were located and saved. They had been carried about 14km out to sea.

The recording was shared with the parents' permission.

A senior officer who oversaw the search and rescue effort said the group was in an “extremely dire situation”.

“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 boy did was truly remarkable. His bravery and courage in those conditions were exceptional, and his actions were crucial in bringing about a positive result.”

The commander also highlighted how the boy calmly conveyed critical information.

When asked to identify the paddleboards for the rescue team, the boy said: “They were green and white.”

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