We Require a Aircraft to Search For Them’: 13-Year-Old’s Emergency Call to Save Loved Ones Adrift Off Aussie Coast Unveiled

“We got lost out there,” the teenager informs the triple-zero dispatcher, having swum 2.5 miles in rough, the sea and running 1.25 miles to summon rescue for his kin.

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

“[It] was ages past … I think they’re a long way from land. I think we must get a rescue aircraft to search for them,” he reports.

Authorities have made public the recorded plea made last month after the teen departed from his loved ones floating at sea off the West Australian coast to seek assistance.

His voice remains lucid and collected, even as he voices his concern for his family.

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

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

The Harrowing Ordeal

The mother and children had been swept 4km out to sea in rough conditions while enjoying water sports.

His parent asked him to use his craft and find help, so the youth set off, abandoning first his failing kayak then his cumbersome lifejacket to cover the remaining stretch.

After reaching land – following a four-hour swim – he sprinted for 1.25 miles to retrieve 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 ambulance because I think I have hypothermia … I’m really, I’m completely exhausted. I have sunstroke, and I feel like I’m about to pass out.”

A Getaway in Peril

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

The mother later recalled that they were enjoying themselves when the children “ventured out too far”. The conditions worsened, they were separated from their equipment, and started floating away.

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

The mother also described 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 commented.

The Successful Mission

The teenager described being “extremely winded”.

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

The emergency call was made at about 6pm.

At around 8.30pm, many hours after they first set out, the family were spotted and rescued. They had drifted about 9 miles out to sea.

The recording was made public with the parents' permission.

A forward commander who managed the rescue mission 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 daylight fading.

“What the teenager did was incredibly brave. His heroic actions in those conditions were remarkable, and his actions were crucial in bringing about a rescue.”

The officer also commended how the teenager calmly conveyed critical information.

When asked to describe the boards for the authorities, the teenager said: “They were green and white.”

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