We Must Have a Helicopter to Go Find Them’: 13-Year-Old’s Emergency Call to Rescue Loved Ones Stranded Off Down Under Coast Unveiled

“We became disoriented out there,” the teenager informs the triple-zero dispatcher, after swimming 2.5 miles in rough, open water and sprinting 2km to secure help for his family.

The operator questions how much time has elapsed since he began.

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

Authorities have released the emergency phone call made last month after the youth left his relatives floating at sea off the WA coast to seek assistance.

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

“I don’t know what their status is right now, and I’m really scared,” he confides in the operator.

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

The Dangerous Incident

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

His parent instructed him to set out and get assistance, so the youth began, discarding first his failing kayak then his cumbersome lifejacket to make the journey by swimming.

After getting to the beach – following a four-hour swim – he ran for two kilometres to get to a phone.

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

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

A Getaway in Peril

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

The woman later described that they were having fun when the kids “drifted further than intended”. The breeze strengthened, they were separated from their equipment, and started drifting.

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

The parent also referenced having to make “one of the hardest decisions” to instruct 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 boy explained being “extremely winded”.

“I just keep swimming, I do breaststroke, I do front crawl, I do elementary backstroke,” he explained.

The emergency call was made at approximately 6pm.

At around 8.30pm, many hours after they first departed, the stranded individuals were found and brought to safety. They had been carried about 9 miles out to sea.

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

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

“They were in serious jeopardy, and time was of the essence 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 astonishing, and his actions were instrumental in bringing about a rescue.”

The commander also praised how the youth effectively communicated critical information.

When asked to detail the paddleboards for the rescue team, the boy responded: “They were green and white.”

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