We Must Have a Chopper to Go Find Them’: Teenager’s Emergency Call to Rescue Loved Ones Adrift Off Aussie Coast Revealed

“We became disoriented out there,” young Austin Appelbee informs the triple-zero dispatcher, after swimming 4km in rough, open ocean and running 1.25 miles to secure help for his kin.

The call taker questions how much time has gone by since he began.

“[It] was ages past … I think they’re a long way from land. I think we require a rescue aircraft to go find them,” he states.

Emergency services have disclosed the emergency phone call made previously after the youth departed from his relatives floating at sea off the West Australian coast to seek assistance.

His demeanour remains steady and composed, even as he voices his concern for his family.

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

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

The Harrowing Ordeal

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

His mother urged him to take his kayak and locate rescue, so the boy commenced, abandoning first his failing kayak then his bulky flotation device to make the journey by swimming.

After getting to the beach – four hours later – he ran for 2km to access a mobile phone.

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

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

A Getaway in Peril

The group was on vacation in Quindalup, two hundred kilometres south of Perth. They departed from Geographe Bay around 10am on a Friday in late January.

The woman later described that they were having fun when the children “drifted further than intended”. The breeze strengthened, they lost their oars, and started floating away.

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

The parent also referenced having to make “one of the hardest decisions” to send her son to swim ashore.

“I knew he was the best swimmer and he could do it,” she said.

The Rescue Effort

The teenager recalled being “very puffed out”.

“I just keep swimming, I do breaststroke, I do freestyle, I do elementary backstroke,” he said.

The emergency call was made at around 6pm.

At around 8.30pm, ten hours after they first departed, the family were located and saved. They had floated about 9 miles out to sea.

The recording was shared with the parents' permission.

A police sergeant who oversaw the rescue mission said the family was in an “desperately dangerous position”.

“They were in serious jeopardy, and time was of the essence given how much time they had been in the water and with night approaching.

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

The sergeant also commended how the youth clearly relayed vital details.

When asked to detail the equipment for the search crew, the teenager said: “They were a green and white colour.”

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