We Require a Aircraft to Go Find Them’: 13-Year-Old’s Distress Call to Aid Relatives Adrift Off Australian Coast Revealed

“We got lost out there,” a 13-year-old boy explains to the triple-zero dispatcher, following a swim 2.5 miles in treacherous, the sea and jogging 1.25 miles to secure help for his family.

The call taker asks how long has gone by since he began.

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

Authorities have disclosed the emergency phone call made last month after the boy departed from his loved ones drifting at sea off the West Australian coast to fetch help.

His tone 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 extremely frightened,” he informs the operator.

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

The Perilous Situation

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

His mum asked him to use his craft and locate rescue, so the youth began, ditching first his waterlogged vessel then his bulky flotation device to swim the distance.

After making it to shore – after an extensive period – he ran for 2km to access a phone.

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

“I’m sitting on the beach right now, and I have to also add – I think I need an paramedic because I think I have exposure … I’m really, I’m completely exhausted. I have sunstroke, and I feel like I’m about to collapse.”

A Getaway in Peril

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

The woman later described that they were enjoying themselves when the young ones “went out a bit too far”. The conditions worsened, they were separated from their equipment, and started being carried out.

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

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

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

The Successful Mission

The youth recalled being “extremely winded”.

“I just continued swimming, I do breaststroke, I do freestyle, I do survival backstroke,” he explained.

The distress call was made at approximately 6pm.

At around 8.30pm, ten hours after they first set out, the family were spotted and rescued. They had drifted about fourteen kilometres out to sea.

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

A forward commander who oversaw the operation said the family was in an “desperately dangerous position”.

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

“What the teenager did was nothing short of extraordinary. His fortitude and resolve in those conditions were exceptional, and his actions were instrumental in bringing about a rescue.”

The sergeant also highlighted how the youth clearly relayed critical information.

When asked to identify the equipment for the authorities, the teenager responded: “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 fish on there. Because we caught one.”