‘We Need a Helicopter to Go Find Them’: 13-Year-Old’s Emergency Call to Aid Relatives Adrift Off Down Under Coast Disclosed

“We got lost out there,” young Austin Appelbee tells the triple-zero dispatcher, following a swim 2.5 miles in rough, the sea and sprinting two kilometres to get assistance for his family.

The call taker inquires how long has elapsed since he began.

“[It] was ages past … I think they’re kilometres out to sea. I think we need a rescue aircraft to search for them,” he states.

Authorities have made public the emergency phone call made in recent weeks after the youth departed from his relatives adrift at sea off the WA coast to seek assistance.

His demeanour remains clear and calm, even as he details his concern for his kin.

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

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

The Perilous Situation

The holidaymakers had been swept 4km out to sea in treacherous conditions while kayaking and paddleboarding.

His mum instructed him to take his kayak and find help, so the teenager began, ditching first his waterlogged vessel then his bulky flotation device to cover the remaining stretch.

After reaching land – following a four-hour swim – he ran for 1.25 miles to retrieve a phone.

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

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

A Holiday Turned Crisis

The family was on a break in Quindalup, two hundred kilometres south of Perth. They departed from Geographe Bay some time after 10am on a Friday in late January.

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

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

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

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

The Successful Mission

The teenager recalled being “extremely winded”.

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

The distress call was made at about 6pm.

At about 8.30pm, a full ten hours after they first began, the family were found and brought to safety. They had drifted about 14km out to sea.

The audio was released with the family’s permission.

A senior officer who managed the operation said the family was in an “desperately dangerous position”.

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

“What the teenager did was nothing short of extraordinary. His heroic actions in those conditions were astonishing, and his actions were crucial in bringing about a successful outcome.”

The officer also highlighted how the youth effectively communicated vital details.

When asked to describe the equipment for the rescue team, the teenager said: “They were coloured green and white.”

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