We Must Have a Chopper to Search For Them’: Teenager’s Urgent Plea to Rescue Family Adrift Off Down Under Coast Disclosed

“We ended up adrift out there,” a 13-year-old boy tells the emergency operator, after swimming four kilometres in rough, open ocean and running two kilometres to secure help for his family.

The operator asks how much time has gone by since he began.

“[It] was ages past … I think they’re far offshore. I think we must get a rescue aircraft to go find them,” he states.

Authorities have disclosed the emergency phone call made last month after the boy departed from his family drifting at sea off the WA coast to fetch help.

His demeanour remains clear and calm, even as he details his worry for his family members.

“I don’t know what their state is right now, and I’m extremely frightened,” he confides in the person on the line.

“Mum said to find rescue … We were in grave peril.”

The Perilous Situation

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

His parent urged him to take his kayak and get assistance, so the youth began, ditching first his waterlogged vessel then his unwieldy PFD to cover the remaining stretch.

After reaching land – following a four-hour swim – he raced for 2km to get to 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 emergency services.

“I’m sitting on the beach right now, and I have to also explain – I think I need an medical help because I think I have a dangerously low body temperature … I’m really, I’m utterly fatigued. I have sunstroke, and I feel like I’m about to faint.”

A Getaway in Peril

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

The parent later explained that they were having fun when the kids “drifted further than intended”. The conditions worsened, they lost their oars, and started floating away.

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

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

“I knew he was the strongest and he could do it,” she commented.

The Rescue Effort

The youth described being “completely out of breath”.

“I just pressed on, I do the breaststroke, I do freestyle, I do elementary backstroke,” he said.

The call for help was made at about 6pm.

At roughly 8.30pm, a full ten hours after they first departed, the family were found and brought to safety. They had been carried about 14km out to sea.

The recording was made public with the parents' permission.

A senior officer who managed the search and rescue effort said the family was in an “incredibly perilous state”.

“They were in real trouble, and time was extremely pressing given how long they had been in the water and with daylight fading.

“What the teenager did was nothing short of extraordinary. His bravery and courage in those conditions were remarkable, and his actions were instrumental in bringing about a successful outcome.”

The sergeant also commended how the boy clearly relayed vital details.

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

“And I’m not sure if it’s still on, but they had this rod, and there was a fish on there. As we caught one.”