We Require a Chopper to Search For Them’: Adolescent’s Distress Call to Save Family Stranded Off Australian Coast Unveiled

“We ended up adrift out there,” the teenager tells the 000 call handler, having swum 4km in choppy, open ocean and sprinting 2km to secure help for his family.

The operator questions how much time has elapsed since he started out.

“[It] was ages past … I think they’re kilometres out to sea. I think we require a helicopter to go find them,” he says.

Authorities have made public the distress call made in recent weeks after the boy left his relatives adrift at sea off the West Australian coast to find rescuers.

His voice remains steady and composed, even as he details his worry for his family.

“I am unsure of what their status is right now, and I’m extremely frightened,” he confides in the person on the line.

“Mum said go get help … We were in serious danger.”

The Harrowing Ordeal

The family group had been swept 2.5 miles out to sea in rough conditions while kayaking and paddleboarding.

His mother urged him to use his craft and get assistance, so the youth commenced, abandoning first his waterlogged vessel then his cumbersome lifejacket to swim the distance.

After making it to shore – following a four-hour swim – he sprinted for 2km to retrieve a cell phone.

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

“I’m positioned on the beach right now, and I have to also explain – I think I need an paramedic because I think I have a dangerously low body temperature … I’m really, I’m completely exhausted. I have heatstroke, and I feel like I’m about to pass out.”

A Holiday Turned Crisis

The family was on vacation in Quindalup, 125 miles south of Perth. They departed from Geographe Bay following 10am on a Friday in late January.

The mother later explained that they were having fun when the kids “went out a bit too far”. The wind picked up, they were separated from their equipment, and started drifting.

“It sort of all went wrong very, very quickly,” she remarked.

The parent also referenced having to make “an incredibly tough choice” to ask her son to swim to land.

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

The Search Operation

The youth recalled being “completely out of breath”.

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

The distress call was made at about 6pm.

At about 8.30pm, ten hours after they first began, the group were spotted and rescued. They had been carried about 14km out to sea.

The emergency call was shared with the parents' permission.

A forward commander who coordinated the rescue mission said the group was in an “desperately dangerous position”.

“They were in genuine danger, and time was absolutely critical given how long they had been in the water and with light running out.

“What the boy did was truly remarkable. His bravery and courage in those conditions were exceptional, and his actions were crucial in bringing about a rescue.”

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

When asked to detail the equipment for the authorities, the boy responded: “They were a green and white colour.”

“And I’m not sure if it’s still attached, but they had this rod, and there was a fish hooked. As we hooked one.”