We Must Have a Helicopter to Go Find Them’: Adolescent’s Urgent Plea to Aid Family Stranded Off Aussie Coast Disclosed

“We ended up adrift out there,” young Austin Appelbee informs the emergency operator, following a swim 2.5 miles in choppy, the sea and jogging 1.25 miles to secure help for his household.

The call taker inquires how much time has passed since he started out.

“[It] was ages past … I think they’re kilometres out to sea. I think we need a helicopter to search for them,” he states.

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

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

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

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

The Dangerous Incident

The mother and children had been pulled four kilometres out to sea in rough conditions while kayaking and paddleboarding.

His mother urged him to take his kayak and find help, so the youth set off, abandoning first his waterlogged vessel then his cumbersome lifejacket to swim the distance.

After making it to shore – after an extensive period – he ran for two kilometres to retrieve a mobile phone.

“Hello, my name is Austin … I have a brother and sister, 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 add – I think I need an medical help because I think I have hypothermia … I’m really, I’m utterly fatigued. I have heatstroke, and I feel like I’m about to collapse.”

A Vacation Gone Wrong

The group 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 described that they were playing around when the children “went out a bit too far”. The wind picked up, they were separated from their equipment, and started being carried out.

“It sort of all went wrong very, very quickly,” she noted.

The parent also spoke of 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 stated.

The Rescue Effort

The teenager described being “completely out of breath”.

“I just continued swimming, I do the breaststroke, I do freestyle, I do survival backstroke,” he said.

The call for help was made at approximately 6pm.

At roughly 8.30pm, ten hours after they first set out, the group were spotted and rescued. They had been carried about fourteen kilometres out to sea.

The recording was shared with the family’s permission.

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

“They were in serious jeopardy, and time was absolutely critical given how long they had been in the water and with daylight fading.

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

The commander also commended how the teenager calmly conveyed key facts.

When asked to identify the equipment for the authorities, the teenager responded: “They were a green and white colour.”

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