We Must Have a Chopper to Search For Them’: Teenager’s Distress Call to Save Relatives Stranded Off Australian Coast Unveiled

“We ended up adrift out there,” young Austin Appelbee tells the 000 call handler, having swum 4km in choppy, open water and running 2km to get assistance for his household.

The dispatcher questions how much time has passed since he started out.

“[It] was quite some time back … I think they’re a long way from land. I think we require a rescue aircraft to go find them,” he says.

Emergency services have released the distress call made in recent weeks after the boy departed from his relatives floating at sea off the West Australian coast to find rescuers.

His tone remains lucid and collected, even as he voices his fear for his kin.

“I don’t know what their condition is right now, and I’m terrified,” he confides in the dispatcher.

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

The Dangerous Incident

The holidaymakers had been pulled four kilometres out to sea in treacherous conditions while enjoying water sports.

His parent asked him to take his kayak and locate rescue, so the teenager began, abandoning first his sinking craft then his unwieldy PFD to swim the distance.

After getting to the beach – after an extensive period – he ran for 2km 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 states the operator.

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

A Holiday Turned Crisis

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

The mother later recalled that they were enjoying themselves when the kids “drifted further than intended”. The conditions worsened, they lost their oars, and started being carried out.

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

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

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

The Rescue Effort

The teenager recalled being “very puffed out”.

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

The call for help was made at around 6pm.

At around 8.30pm, many hours after they first began, the family were found and brought to safety. They had been carried about fourteen kilometres out to sea.

The recording was shared with the mother’s permission.

A forward commander who managed the search and rescue effort said the group was in an “incredibly perilous state”.

“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 nothing short of extraordinary. His heroic actions in those conditions were exceptional, and his actions were pivotal in bringing about a rescue.”

The commander also commended how the youth effectively communicated vital details.

When asked to identify the equipment for the authorities, the teenager said: “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 catch on the line. Since we hooked one.”