We Must Have a Aircraft to Go Find Them’: 13-Year-Old’s Urgent Plea to Aid Family Stranded Off Aussie Coast Unveiled

“We became disoriented out there,” a 13-year-old boy explains to the triple-zero dispatcher, having swum four kilometres in choppy, the sea and jogging 2km to secure help for his household.

The dispatcher inquires how long has elapsed since he set off.

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

Authorities have released the distress call made in recent weeks after the boy departed from his relatives adrift at sea off the Western Australian coast to seek assistance.

His voice remains lucid and collected, even as he voices his worry for his family.

“I have no idea about what their condition is right now, and I’m terrified,” he informs the operator.

“Mum said to find rescue … We were in grave peril.”

The Harrowing Ordeal

The holidaymakers had been pulled 4km out to sea in stormy conditions while using kayaks and paddleboards.

His mum asked him to use his craft and find help, so the youth commenced, abandoning first his waterlogged vessel then his cumbersome lifejacket to cover the remaining stretch.

After making it to shore – after an extensive period – he ran for 1.25 miles to get to a mobile phone.

“Hello, my name is Austin … I have two siblings, Beau and Grace. Beau is 12 and Grace is eight,” he explains the call handler.

“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 exposure … I’m really, I’m utterly fatigued. I have sunstroke, and I feel like I’m about to faint.”

A Vacation Gone Wrong

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

The woman later recalled that they were playing around when the young ones “ventured out too far”. The breeze strengthened, they lost their oars, and started being carried out.

“It kind of all turned bad very, very quickly,” she noted.

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

“I knew he was the most capable and he had the ability to succeed,” she said.

The Successful Mission

The youth described 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 emergency call was made at approximately 6pm.

At around 8.30pm, many hours after they first began, the stranded individuals were located and saved. They had drifted about 9 miles out to sea.

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

A senior officer who oversaw the rescue mission said the family 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 teenager did was truly remarkable. His heroic actions in those conditions were remarkable, and his actions were pivotal in bringing about a successful outcome.”

The officer also praised how the teenager clearly relayed critical information.

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

“And I’m not sure if it’s still attached, but they had this fishing line, and there was a fish hooked. As we managed to catch a fish.”