‘We Need a Aircraft to Locate Them’: Teenager’s Urgent Plea to Rescue Relatives Stranded Off Australian Coast Unveiled

“We ended up adrift out there,” the teenager tells the triple-zero dispatcher, having swum 4km in treacherous, open ocean and running two kilometres to get assistance for his family.

The call taker inquires how long has gone by since he began.

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

Police have disclosed the distress call made previously after the boy departed from his loved ones adrift at sea off the Western Australian coast to find rescuers.

His voice remains steady and composed, even as he expresses his fear for his family.

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

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

The Dangerous Incident

The mother and children had been swept four kilometres out to sea in treacherous conditions while enjoying water sports.

His parent instructed him to set out and locate rescue, so the youth commenced, ditching first his failing kayak then his unwieldy PFD to cover the remaining stretch.

After getting to the beach – after an extensive period – he raced for 1.25 miles to access 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 states the emergency services.

“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 hypothermia … I’m really, I’m utterly fatigued. I have hyperthermia, and I feel like I’m about to collapse.”

A Vacation Gone Wrong

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

The parent later explained that they were having fun when the children “ventured out too far”. The wind picked up, they lost their oars, and started floating away.

“It kind of all became dangerous very, very quickly,” she said.

The parent also described having to make “one of the hardest decisions” to instruct her son to swim ashore.

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

The Search Operation

The teenager recalled being “completely out of breath”.

“I just keep swimming, I do breaststroke, I do front crawl, I do elementary backstroke,” he said.

The call for help was made at around 6pm.

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

The recording was shared with the parents' permission.

A senior officer who coordinated the rescue mission said the group was in an “incredibly perilous state”.

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

“What the teenager did was nothing short of extraordinary. His fortitude and resolve in those conditions were astonishing, and his actions were crucial in bringing about a positive result.”

The officer also commended how the teenager effectively communicated vital details.

When asked to detail the boards 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 rod, and there was a catch on the line. Because we caught one.”