‘We Need a Helicopter to Locate Them’: 13-Year-Old’s Distress Call to Aid Loved Ones Adrift Off Aussie Coast Disclosed

“We ended up adrift out there,” a 13-year-old boy informs the triple-zero dispatcher, after swimming four kilometres in rough, the sea and jogging 2km to summon rescue for his kin.

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

“[It] was a very long time ago … I think they’re a long way from land. I think we require a helicopter to go find them,” he states.

Authorities have released the emergency phone call made previously after the youth departed from his family drifting at sea off the WA coast to find rescuers.

His demeanour remains steady and composed, even as he expresses his concern for his family members.

“I am unsure of what their condition is right now, and I’m extremely frightened,” he confides in the dispatcher.

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

The Perilous Situation

The holidaymakers had been swept 2.5 miles out to sea in stormy conditions while enjoying water sports.

His parent urged him to set out and find help, so the teenager set off, ditching first his waterlogged vessel then his bulky flotation device to make the journey by swimming.

After getting to the beach – after an extensive period – he raced for two kilometres to retrieve a cell phone.

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

“I’m positioned on the beach right now, and I have to also explain – I think I need an ambulance because I think I have exposure … I’m really, I’m completely exhausted. I have heatstroke, and I feel like I’m about to collapse.”

A Vacation Gone Wrong

The family 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 parent later recalled that they were having fun when the children “ventured out too far”. The wind picked up, they dropped their paddles, and started drifting.

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

The mother also spoke of having to make “a terribly difficult call” to send her son to swim to land.

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

The Rescue Effort

The boy described being “completely out of breath”.

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

The call for help was made at around 6pm.

At roughly 8.30pm, ten hours after they first set out, the stranded individuals were spotted and rescued. They had floated about 9 miles out to sea.

The audio was released with the mother’s permission.

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

“They were in serious jeopardy, and time was extremely pressing given how long they had been in the water and with light running out.

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

The sergeant also praised how the teenager effectively communicated key facts.

When asked to detail the equipment for the rescue team, the youth said: “They were coloured green and white.”

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