We Must Have a Aircraft to Search For Them’: 13-Year-Old’s Urgent Plea to Rescue Relatives Adrift Off Down Under Coast Disclosed

“We became disoriented out there,” a 13-year-old boy explains to the triple-zero dispatcher, after swimming four kilometres in choppy, open water and sprinting 1.25 miles to summon rescue for his household.

The dispatcher asks how long has gone by since he set off.

“[It] was a very long time ago … I think they’re a long way from land. I think we need a chopper to search for them,” he states.

Authorities have disclosed the distress call made previously after the boy left 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 members.

“I don’t know what their condition is right now, and I’m extremely frightened,” he tells the operator.

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

The Dangerous Incident

The family group had been swept four kilometres out to sea in treacherous conditions while enjoying water sports.

His mother urged him to take his kayak and get assistance, so the youth began, abandoning first his sinking craft then his cumbersome lifejacket to swim the distance.

After making it to shore – following a four-hour swim – he raced for 2km to retrieve a phone.

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

“I’m positioned on the beach right now, and I have to also mention – I think I need an paramedic because I think I have a dangerously low body temperature … I’m really, I’m completely exhausted. I have hyperthermia, and I feel like I’m about to faint.”

A Getaway in Peril

The family was on a break in Quindalup, 125 miles south of Perth. They began their trip from Geographe Bay around 10am on a Friday in late January.

The parent later described that they were playing around when the young ones “went out a bit too far”. The wind picked up, they dropped their paddles, and started drifting.

“It sort of all went wrong very, very quickly,” she noted.

The parent also referenced having to make “an incredibly tough choice” to instruct her son to swim ashore.

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

The Rescue Effort

The teenager recalled being “extremely winded”.

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

The call for help was made at around 6pm.

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

The recording was shared with the mother’s permission.

A police sergeant who oversaw the search and rescue effort said the group was in an “incredibly perilous state”.

“They were in genuine danger, and time was extremely pressing given how long they had been in the water and with daylight fading.

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

The commander also praised how the boy effectively communicated vital details.

When asked to identify the paddleboards for the authorities, the teenager responded: “They were coloured green and white.”

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