We Require a Aircraft to Locate Them’: Adolescent’s Emergency Call to Rescue Family Lost Off Aussie Coast Disclosed

“We got lost out there,” the teenager informs the emergency operator, after swimming four kilometres in treacherous, open ocean and running 1.25 miles to secure help for his household.

The dispatcher questions how long has passed since he set off.

“[It] was a very long time ago … I think they’re a long way from land. I think we must get a chopper to search for them,” he reports.

Authorities have released the emergency phone call made in recent weeks after the teen 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 kin.

“I don’t know what their status is right now, and I’m really scared,” he tells the person on the line.

“Mum said to seek assistance … We were in serious danger.”

The Harrowing Ordeal

The family group had been pulled 4km out to sea in rough conditions while enjoying water sports.

His parent asked him to use his craft and locate rescue, so the teenager commenced, discarding first his failing kayak then his cumbersome lifejacket to swim the distance.

After reaching land – following a four-hour swim – he raced for 1.25 miles to access a cell phone.

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

“I’m sitting on the beach right now, and I have to also mention – I think I need an ambulance because I think I have exposure … I’m really, I’m utterly fatigued. I have heatstroke, and I feel like I’m about to collapse.”

A Holiday Turned Crisis

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

The parent later described that they were enjoying themselves when the kids “ventured out too far”. The wind picked up, they dropped their paddles, and started being carried out.

“It pretty much all went wrong very, very quickly,” she noted.

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

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

The Search Operation

The boy described being “extremely winded”.

“I just pressed on, I do breaststroke, I do front crawl, I do a floating stroke,” he recalled.

The distress call was made at approximately 6pm.

At about 8.30pm, a full ten hours after they first began, the group were found and brought to safety. They had drifted about fourteen kilometres out to sea.

The audio was made public with the parents' permission.

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

“They were in real trouble, and time was absolutely critical given how long they had been in the water and with night approaching.

“What the teenager did was truly remarkable. His fortitude and resolve in those conditions were astonishing, and his actions were pivotal in bringing about a positive result.”

The officer also highlighted how the teenager calmly conveyed key facts.

When asked to describe the boards for the authorities, the youth replied: “They were coloured green and white.”

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