We Must Have a Aircraft to Go Find Them’: Adolescent’s Emergency Call to Save Family Adrift Off Aussie Coast Revealed

“We ended up adrift out there,” young Austin Appelbee explains to the 000 call handler, after swimming 4km in treacherous, open ocean and running 1.25 miles to summon rescue for his family.

The dispatcher asks how much time has gone by since he started out.

“[It] was ages past … I think they’re a long way from land. I think we must get a chopper to locate them,” he says.

Authorities have disclosed the distress call made last month after the boy left his family adrift at sea off the West Australian coast to seek assistance.

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

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

“Mum said to seek assistance … We were in massive trouble.”

The Harrowing Ordeal

The mother and children had been pulled four kilometres out to sea in treacherous conditions while kayaking and paddleboarding.

His parent urged him to set out and locate rescue, so the boy commenced, abandoning first his sinking craft then his cumbersome lifejacket to make the journey by swimming.

After reaching land – after an extensive period – he sprinted for two kilometres to retrieve a mobile phone.

“Hello, my name is Austin … I have a brother and sister, Beau and Grace. Beau is 12 and Grace is eight,” he states the operator.

“I’m located on the beach right now, and I have to also explain – I think I need an paramedic because I think I have exposure … I’m really, I’m utterly fatigued. I have sunstroke, and I feel like I’m about to pass out.”

A Vacation Gone Wrong

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

The parent later explained that they were playing around when the kids “went out a bit too far”. The breeze strengthened, they dropped their paddles, and started drifting.

“It pretty much all became dangerous very, very quickly,” she said.

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

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

The Successful Mission

The boy explained being “completely out of breath”.

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

The call for help was made at approximately 6pm.

At about 8.30pm, many hours after they first began, the group were spotted and rescued. They had drifted about fourteen kilometres out to sea.

The audio was made public with the parents' permission.

A police sergeant who managed the operation said the family was in an “extremely dire situation”.

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

“What Austin did was truly remarkable. His fortitude and resolve in those conditions were exceptional, and his actions were instrumental in bringing about a successful outcome.”

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

When asked to describe the boards for the search crew, the teenager responded: “They were green and white.”

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