‘We Need a Aircraft to Go Find Them’: Teenager’s Emergency Call to Save Relatives Stranded Off Down Under Coast Revealed

“We became disoriented out there,” a 13-year-old boy explains to the emergency operator, after swimming 2.5 miles in choppy, the sea and sprinting 1.25 miles to summon rescue for his kin.

The operator questions how long has gone by since he started out.

“[It] was ages past … I think they’re kilometres out to sea. I think we must get a helicopter to search for them,” he reports.

Authorities have disclosed the recorded plea made in recent weeks after the teen departed from his relatives drifting at sea off the West Australian coast to find rescuers.

His tone remains lucid and collected, even as he voices his concern for his kin.

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

“Mum said go get help … We were in grave peril.”

The Perilous Situation

The holidaymakers had been carried four kilometres out to sea in rough conditions while using kayaks and paddleboards.

His mother urged him to set out and get assistance, so the boy set off, discarding first his failing kayak then his cumbersome lifejacket to cover the remaining stretch.

After making it to shore – following a four-hour swim – he ran for 1.25 miles to retrieve a cell phone.

“Hello, my name is Austin … I have two 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 add – I think I need an paramedic because I think I have a dangerously low body temperature … 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 family was on holiday in Quindalup, 125 miles south of Perth. They set off from Geographe Bay some time after 10am on a Friday in late January.

The mother later explained that they were playing around when the children “drifted further than intended”. The breeze strengthened, they lost their oars, and started floating away.

“It kind of all went wrong very, very quickly,” she remarked.

The mother also described having to make “an incredibly tough choice” to send her son to make the swim for help.

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

The Successful Mission

The youth recalled being “extremely winded”.

“I just keep swimming, I do breaststroke, I do freestyle, I do a floating stroke,” he explained.

The call for help was made at approximately 6pm.

At around 8.30pm, ten hours after they first departed, the family were found and brought to safety. They had been carried about fourteen kilometres out to sea.

The emergency call was released with the parents' permission.

A forward commander who oversaw the search and rescue effort said the family was in an “extremely dire situation”.

“They were in real trouble, and time was absolutely critical given how much time they had been in the water and with light running out.

“What the boy did was truly remarkable. His fortitude and resolve in those conditions were astonishing, and his actions were instrumental in bringing about a rescue.”

The officer also highlighted how the teenager clearly relayed key facts.

When asked to describe the paddleboards for the authorities, the boy said: “They were a green and white colour.”

“And I’m not sure if it’s still on, but they had this rod, and there was a catch on the line. Because we managed to catch a fish.”