We Must Have a Helicopter to Locate Them’: Adolescent’s Distress Call to Aid Loved Ones Lost Off Down Under Coast Disclosed

“We got lost out there,” a 13-year-old boy explains to the 000 call handler, after swimming 4km in treacherous, open water and jogging two kilometres to get assistance for his family.

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

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

Emergency services have released the emergency phone call made last month after the boy left his relatives floating at sea off the WA coast to fetch help.

His tone remains lucid and collected, even as he voices his worry for his family.

“I am unsure of what their state is right now, and I’m extremely frightened,” he tells the person on the line.

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

The Harrowing Ordeal

The family group had been carried 4km out to sea in rough conditions while enjoying water sports.

His mum urged him to use his craft and find help, so the teenager set off, discarding first his waterlogged vessel then his bulky flotation device to make the journey by swimming.

After making it to shore – following a four-hour swim – he raced for 1.25 miles to retrieve a phone.

“Hello, my name is Austin … I have a brother and sister, Beau and Grace. Beau is 12 and Grace is eight,” he tells the operator.

“I’m positioned on the beach right now, and I have to also explain – I think I need an paramedic because I think I have a dangerously low body temperature … I’m really, I’m completely exhausted. I have heatstroke, and I feel like I’m about to pass out.”

A Holiday Turned Crisis

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

The woman later recalled that they were enjoying themselves 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 pretty much all turned bad very, very quickly,” she noted.

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

“I knew he was the strongest and he had the ability to succeed,” she stated.

The Rescue Effort

The teenager explained being “extremely winded”.

“I just continued swimming, I do breaststroke, I do freestyle, I do elementary backstroke,” he explained.

The call for help was made at about 6pm.

At around 8.30pm, a full ten hours after they first departed, the family were spotted and rescued. They had been carried about fourteen kilometres out to sea.

The emergency call was shared with the mother’s permission.

A senior officer who oversaw the operation said the family was in an “extremely dire situation”.

“They were in genuine danger, and time was of the essence given how long they had been in the water and with night approaching.

“What Austin did was nothing short of extraordinary. His bravery and courage in those conditions were exceptional, and his actions were pivotal in bringing about a positive result.”

The commander also commended how the youth clearly relayed vital details.

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

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