We Require a Aircraft to Locate Them’: Adolescent’s Emergency Call to Rescue Family Adrift Off Down Under Coast Disclosed

“We got lost out there,” young Austin Appelbee tells the triple-zero dispatcher, after swimming four kilometres in choppy, the sea and jogging 2km to secure help for his kin.

The operator asks how much time has passed since he started out.

“[It] was ages past … I think they’re a long way from land. I think we must get a chopper to search for them,” he reports.

Emergency services have made public the recorded plea made previously after the teen left his loved ones drifting at sea off the West Australian coast to find rescuers.

His demeanour remains steady and composed, even as he expresses his concern for his kin.

“I don’t know what their state is right now, and I’m extremely frightened,” he confides in the person on the line.

“Mum said to find rescue … We were in serious danger.”

The Harrowing Ordeal

The mother and children had been carried 4km out to sea in treacherous conditions while kayaking and paddleboarding.

His mum instructed him to use his craft and find help, so the teenager set off, discarding first his sinking craft then his bulky flotation device to cover the remaining stretch.

After reaching land – four hours later – he ran for 1.25 miles to access 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 operator.

“I’m positioned on the beach right now, and I have to also add – I think I need an medical help because I think I have hypothermia … I’m really, I’m utterly fatigued. I have hyperthermia, and I feel like I’m about to collapse.”

A Vacation Gone Wrong

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

The woman later described that they were enjoying themselves when the kids “went out a bit too far”. The wind picked up, they lost their oars, and started drifting.

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

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

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

The Search Operation

The teenager explained being “completely out of breath”.

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

The call for help was made at approximately 6pm.

At about 8.30pm, a full ten hours after they first set out, the stranded individuals were spotted and rescued. They had floated about 14km out to sea.

The emergency call was shared with the mother’s permission.

A forward commander who coordinated the search and rescue effort said the family was in an “desperately dangerous position”.

“They were in genuine danger, and time was of the essence given how much time they had been in the water and with light running out.

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

The officer also commended how the youth clearly relayed vital details.

When asked to identify the equipment for the rescue team, the youth replied: “They were coloured green and white.”

“And I’m not sure if it’s there, but they had this fishing line, and there was a catch on the line. Because we hooked one.”