We Require a Helicopter to Go Find Them’: Teenager’s Emergency Call to Save Family Lost Off Australian Coast Revealed

“We ended up adrift out there,” the teenager informs the emergency operator, following a swim four kilometres in choppy, open ocean and running two kilometres to get assistance for his household.

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

“[It] was quite some time back … I think they’re kilometres out to sea. I think we need a rescue aircraft to locate them,” he reports.

Authorities have made public the distress call made previously after the teen left his loved ones floating at sea off the WA coast to find rescuers.

His voice remains clear and calm, even as he details his concern for his family.

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

“Mum said go get help … We were in massive trouble.”

The Perilous Situation

The family group had been carried 4km out to sea in rough conditions while using kayaks and paddleboards.

His mum asked him to set out and locate rescue, so the boy set off, abandoning first his waterlogged vessel then his cumbersome lifejacket to make the journey by swimming.

After getting to the beach – following a four-hour swim – he raced for two kilometres to access a cell phone.

“Hello, my name is Austin … I have two siblings, Beau and Grace. Beau is 12 and Grace is eight,” he explains the call handler.

“I’m sitting on the beach right now, and I have to also mention – I think I need an paramedic because I think I have hypothermia … I’m really, I’m completely exhausted. I have sunstroke, and I feel like I’m about to collapse.”

A Vacation Gone Wrong

The holidaymakers was on vacation in Quindalup, 125 miles south of Perth. They began their trip from Geographe Bay around 10am on a Friday in late January.

The mother later explained that they were having fun when the young ones “ventured out too far”. The breeze strengthened, they lost their oars, and started floating away.

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

The parent also described 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 said.

The Rescue Effort

The youth described being “extremely winded”.

“I just continued swimming, I do breaststroke, I do freestyle, I do a floating stroke,” he explained.

The call for help was made at about 6pm.

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

The recording was made public with the parents' permission.

A senior officer who oversaw the search and rescue effort said the group was in an “desperately dangerous position”.

“They were in genuine danger, and time was of the essence given how much time they had been in the water and with light running out.

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

The commander also praised how the boy clearly relayed key facts.

When asked to detail the paddleboards for the authorities, the youth said: “They were green and white.”

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