‘We Need a Helicopter to Search For Them’: Teenager’s Urgent Plea to Aid Family Stranded Off Australian Coast Revealed

“We ended up adrift out there,” the teenager tells the 000 call handler, after swimming 2.5 miles in treacherous, open water and jogging 2km to summon rescue for his household.

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

“[It] was quite some time back … I think they’re kilometres out to sea. I think we must get a chopper to search for them,” he reports.

Police have disclosed the recorded plea made previously after the boy departed from his family drifting at sea off the WA coast to find rescuers.

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

“I am unsure of what their condition is right now, and I’m really scared,” he confides in the person on the line.

“Mum said go get help … We were in serious danger.”

The Dangerous Incident

The holidaymakers had been pulled 4km out to sea in treacherous conditions while using kayaks and paddleboards.

His mother urged him to set out and get assistance, so the boy began, abandoning first his sinking craft then his unwieldy PFD to cover the remaining stretch.

After reaching land – four hours later – he sprinted for 2km 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 operator.

“I’m positioned on the beach right now, and I have to also add – I think I need an paramedic because I think I have hypothermia … I’m really, I’m extremely tired. I have hyperthermia, and I feel like I’m about to faint.”

A Getaway in Peril

The holidaymakers was on a break in Quindalup, 200km south of Perth. They departed from Geographe Bay some time after 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 conditions worsened, they lost their oars, and started drifting.

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

The parent also spoke of having to make “a terribly difficult call” to instruct her son to swim to land.

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

The Search Operation

The boy described being “completely out of breath”.

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

The distress call was made at approximately 6pm.

At about 8.30pm, ten hours after they first departed, the group were located and saved. They had been carried about 9 miles out to sea.

The emergency call was made public with the parents' permission.

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

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

“What the teenager did was truly remarkable. His heroic actions in those conditions were astonishing, and his actions were instrumental in bringing about a rescue.”

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

When asked to detail the boards for the authorities, the teenager replied: “They were green and white.”

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