‘We Need a Aircraft to Locate Them’: Adolescent’s Urgent Plea to Save Relatives Stranded Off Aussie Coast Disclosed

“We became disoriented out there,” a 13-year-old boy tells the emergency operator, following a swim 2.5 miles in treacherous, open ocean and sprinting 2km to secure help for his family.

The call taker asks how long has elapsed since he started out.

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

Emergency services have released the recorded plea made last month after the boy departed from his family adrift at sea off the WA coast to find rescuers.

His tone remains clear and calm, even as he expresses his fear for his family members.

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

“Mum said to find rescue … We were in massive trouble.”

The Dangerous Incident

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

His mother asked him to take his kayak and find help, so the teenager set off, abandoning first his waterlogged vessel then his unwieldy PFD to make the journey by swimming.

After making it to shore – after an extensive period – he sprinted for 1.25 miles to get to a phone.

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

“I’m sitting on the beach right now, and I have to also explain – I think I need an medical help because I think I have hypothermia … I’m really, I’m completely exhausted. I have hyperthermia, and I feel like I’m about to pass out.”

A Getaway in Peril

The holidaymakers was on a break in Quindalup, 200km south of Perth. They departed from Geographe Bay some time after 10am on a Friday in late January.

The woman later described that they were having fun when the young ones “ventured out too far”. The wind picked up, they were separated from their equipment, and started being carried out.

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

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

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

The Search Operation

The teenager explained being “very puffed out”.

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

The emergency call was made at approximately 6pm.

At roughly 8.30pm, a full ten hours after they first set out, the stranded individuals were spotted and rescued. They had drifted about fourteen kilometres out to sea.

The recording was made public with the mother’s permission.

A police sergeant who managed the rescue mission said the group was in an “incredibly perilous state”.

“They were in serious jeopardy, and time was absolutely critical given how much time they had been in the water and with light running out.

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

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

When asked to detail the paddleboards for the rescue team, the boy responded: “They were coloured green and white.”

“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 caught one.”