We Require a Helicopter to Go Find Them’: Teenager’s Emergency Call to Aid Family Stranded Off Aussie Coast Unveiled

“We became disoriented out there,” the teenager informs the 000 call handler, after swimming 4km in treacherous, open ocean and sprinting two kilometres to secure help for his household.

The dispatcher questions how much time has passed since he started out.

“[It] was quite some time back … I think they’re kilometres out to sea. I think we need a helicopter to go find them,” he states.

Police have disclosed the recorded plea made previously after the teen left his relatives floating at sea off the West Australian coast to seek assistance.

His voice remains lucid and collected, even as he details his worry for his kin.

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

“Mum said go get help … We were in massive trouble.”

The Harrowing Ordeal

The mother and children had been carried four kilometres out to sea in treacherous conditions while enjoying water sports.

His mum instructed him to take his kayak and locate rescue, so the teenager began, abandoning first his failing kayak then his bulky flotation device to cover the remaining stretch.

After getting to the beach – following a four-hour swim – he ran for two kilometres to get to a phone.

“Hello, my name is Austin … I have a brother and sister, Beau and Grace. Beau is 12 and Grace is eight,” he tells 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 extremely tired. I have sunstroke, and I feel like I’m about to pass out.”

A Getaway in Peril

The holidaymakers was on a break in Quindalup, two hundred kilometres south of Perth. They began their trip from Geographe Bay around 10am on a Friday in late January.

The mother later described that they were playing around when the young ones “went out a bit too far”. The conditions worsened, they were separated from their equipment, and started floating away.

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

The parent also described having to make “a terribly difficult call” to instruct her son to make the swim for help.

“I knew he was the strongest and he was able to manage it,” she said.

The Successful Mission

The youth described being “extremely winded”.

“I just continued swimming, I do the breaststroke, I do freestyle, I do elementary backstroke,” he recalled.

The distress call was made at about 6pm.

At roughly 8.30pm, a full ten hours after they first set out, the stranded individuals were found and brought to safety. They had drifted about 9 miles out to sea.

The emergency call was released with the family’s permission.

A senior officer who coordinated the search and rescue effort said the family was in an “desperately dangerous position”.

“They were in real trouble, and time was of the essence 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 crucial in bringing about a positive result.”

The commander also commended how the boy clearly relayed vital details.

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 rod, and there was a catch on the line. Since we hooked one.”