‘We Need a Aircraft to Search For Them’: Adolescent’s Distress Call to Save Relatives Stranded Off Aussie Coast Revealed

“We became disoriented out there,” young Austin Appelbee tells the triple-zero dispatcher, having swum 2.5 miles in treacherous, open water and running 1.25 miles to secure help for his kin.

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

“[It] was quite some time back … I think they’re far offshore. I think we need a helicopter to go find them,” he reports.

Authorities have made public the emergency phone call made previously after the youth departed from his family adrift at sea off the Western Australian coast to fetch help.

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

“I don’t know what their status is right now, and I’m really scared,” he informs the person on the line.

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

The Dangerous Incident

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

His parent urged him to set out and locate rescue, so the teenager set off, ditching first his failing kayak then his cumbersome lifejacket to cover the remaining stretch.

After making it to shore – after an extensive period – he sprinted for two kilometres to get to a mobile 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 call handler.

“I’m located on the beach right now, and I have to also add – I think I need an ambulance because I think I have hypothermia … I’m really, I’m extremely tired. I have hyperthermia, and I feel like I’m about to pass out.”

A Getaway in Peril

The holidaymakers was on a break in Quindalup, 200km south of Perth. They departed from Geographe Bay around 10am on a Friday in late January.

The mother later explained that they were enjoying themselves when the young ones “ventured out too far”. The conditions worsened, they were separated from their equipment, and started being carried out.

“It sort of all turned bad very, very quickly,” she said.

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

“I knew he was the strongest and he could do it,” she commented.

The Search Operation

The teenager described being “completely out of breath”.

“I just pressed on, I do breaststroke, I do freestyle, I do survival backstroke,” he explained.

The call for help was made at around 6pm.

At around 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 emergency call was released with the parents' permission.

A senior officer who coordinated the search and rescue effort said the group was in an “incredibly perilous state”.

“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 boy did was nothing short of extraordinary. His fortitude and resolve in those conditions were exceptional, and his actions were crucial in bringing about a positive result.”

The officer also highlighted how the youth effectively communicated key facts.

When asked to identify the equipment for the rescue team, the teenager responded: “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 hooked. Since we hooked one.”