We Require a Helicopter to Search For Them’: 13-Year-Old’s Urgent Plea to Aid Relatives Lost Off Down Under Coast Unveiled

“We ended up adrift out there,” a 13-year-old boy explains to the emergency operator, following a swim four kilometres in treacherous, the sea and running two kilometres to summon rescue for his household.

The dispatcher questions how long has gone by since he began.

“[It] was quite some time back … I think they’re far offshore. I think we require a helicopter to locate them,” he reports.

Emergency services have disclosed the distress call made previously after the boy departed from his relatives drifting at sea off the WA coast to fetch help.

His voice remains lucid and collected, even as he details his concern for his family.

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

“Mum said to seek assistance … We were in massive trouble.”

The Harrowing Ordeal

The holidaymakers had been pulled 2.5 miles out to sea in stormy conditions while enjoying water sports.

His mother urged him to take his kayak and find help, so the boy set off, discarding first his failing kayak then his unwieldy PFD to swim the distance.

After reaching land – following a four-hour swim – he raced for two kilometres to access a cell phone.

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

“I’m located on the beach right now, and I have to also add – I think I need an paramedic because I think I have exposure … I’m really, I’m extremely tired. I have sunstroke, and I feel like I’m about to pass out.”

A Getaway in Peril

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

The parent later explained that they were playing around when the children “ventured out too far”. The breeze strengthened, they were separated from their equipment, and started drifting.

“It kind of all went wrong very, very quickly,” she said.

The parent also referenced having to make “an incredibly tough choice” to send her son to make the swim for help.

“I knew he was the most capable and he could do it,” she said.

The Search Operation

The youth recalled being “very puffed out”.

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

The call for help was made at about 6pm.

At around 8.30pm, a full ten hours after they first departed, the stranded individuals were located and saved. They had drifted about 9 miles out to sea.

The recording was released with the parents' permission.

A police sergeant who oversaw the search and rescue effort said the group was in an “desperately dangerous position”.

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

“What Austin did was incredibly brave. His heroic actions in those conditions were astonishing, and his actions were instrumental in bringing about a successful outcome.”

The sergeant also highlighted how the boy calmly conveyed critical information.

When asked to identify the paddleboards for the rescue team, the teenager responded: “They were coloured green and white.”

“And I’m not sure if it’s still on, but they had this fishing line, and there was a fish hooked. Because we hooked one.”