We Require a Aircraft to Go Find Them’: Adolescent’s Urgent Plea to Aid Loved Ones Stranded Off Australian Coast Unveiled

“We became disoriented out there,” young Austin Appelbee tells the emergency operator, after swimming 4km in rough, the sea and running 1.25 miles to summon rescue for his family.

The dispatcher questions how long has gone by since he began.

“[It] was ages past … I think they’re kilometres out to sea. I think we must get a rescue aircraft to locate them,” he states.

Emergency services have made public the emergency phone call made previously after the youth left his family drifting at sea off the WA coast to find rescuers.

His tone remains lucid and collected, even as he expresses his concern for his kin.

“I have no idea about what their condition is right now, and I’m really scared,” he informs the operator.

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

The Perilous Situation

The mother and children had been carried 4km out to sea in stormy conditions while kayaking and paddleboarding.

His mum asked him to use his craft and locate rescue, so the teenager began, discarding first his sinking craft then his unwieldy PFD to swim the distance.

After getting to the beach – after an extensive period – he sprinted for two kilometres 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 tells the call handler.

“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 a dangerously low body temperature … I’m really, I’m utterly fatigued. I have hyperthermia, and I feel like I’m about to collapse.”

A Vacation Gone Wrong

The family was on holiday in Quindalup, 125 miles south of Perth. They set off from Geographe Bay some time after 10am on a Friday in late January.

The parent later explained that they were enjoying themselves when the young ones “ventured out too far”. The conditions worsened, they were separated from their equipment, and started drifting.

“It sort of all became dangerous very, very quickly,” she remarked.

The mother also described having to make “a terribly difficult call” to ask her son to swim ashore.

“I knew he was the strongest and he could do it,” she said.

The Successful Mission

The teenager described being “very puffed out”.

“I just keep swimming, I do the breaststroke, I do freestyle, I do elementary backstroke,” he said.

The distress call was made at approximately 6pm.

At about 8.30pm, a full ten hours after they first began, the stranded individuals were located and saved. They had drifted about 14km out to sea.

The audio was shared with the family’s permission.

A police sergeant who coordinated the operation said the group was in an “extremely dire situation”.

“They were in serious jeopardy, and time was extremely pressing given how much time they had been in the water and with night approaching.

“What the boy did was nothing short of extraordinary. His heroic actions in those conditions were exceptional, and his actions were instrumental in bringing about a positive result.”

The officer also praised how the boy effectively communicated vital details.

When asked to identify the equipment for the search crew, the teenager replied: “They were green and white.”

“And I’m not sure if it’s there, but they had this rod, and there was a catch on the line. Since we hooked one.”