‘We Need a Aircraft to Locate Them’: Adolescent’s Urgent Plea to Aid Relatives Lost Off Down Under Coast Revealed
“We got lost out there,” a 13-year-old boy informs the emergency operator, after swimming four kilometres in rough, the sea and jogging two kilometres to summon rescue for his household.
The dispatcher questions how much time has elapsed since he began.
“[It] was ages past … I think they’re a long way from land. I think we must get a chopper to search for them,” he says.
Emergency services have made public the distress call made previously after the boy left his family adrift at sea off the Western Australian coast to seek assistance.
His tone remains clear and calm, even as he voices his worry for his family.
“I am unsure of what their condition is right now, and I’m extremely frightened,” he informs the operator.
“Mum said to find rescue … We were in grave peril.”
The Perilous Situation
The holidaymakers had been carried 2.5 miles out to sea in rough conditions while using kayaks and paddleboards.
His mother instructed him to use his craft and get assistance, so the youth commenced, discarding first his waterlogged vessel then his bulky flotation device to cover the remaining stretch.
After reaching land – four hours later – he sprinted for 2km to get to 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 explains the operator.
“I’m positioned on the beach right now, and I have to also explain – I think I need an paramedic because I think I have a dangerously low body temperature … I’m really, I’m completely exhausted. I have hyperthermia, and I feel like I’m about to collapse.”
A Holiday Turned Crisis
The holidaymakers was on vacation in Quindalup, two hundred kilometres south of Perth. They began their trip from Geographe Bay following 10am on a Friday in late January.
The woman later recalled that they were playing around when the children “ventured out too far”. The wind picked up, they dropped their paddles, and started floating away.
“It kind of all became dangerous very, very quickly,” she noted.
The mother also referenced having to make “one of the hardest decisions” to ask her son to make the swim for help.
“I knew he was the most capable and he was able to manage it,” she stated.
The Successful Mission
The teenager explained being “extremely winded”.
“I just pressed on, I do the breaststroke, I do freestyle, I do survival backstroke,” he recalled.
The emergency call was made at around 6pm.
At around 8.30pm, a full ten hours after they first departed, the group were found and brought to safety. They had drifted about fourteen kilometres out to sea.
The emergency call was shared with the mother’s permission.
A forward commander who oversaw the rescue mission said the family was in an “desperately dangerous position”.
“They were in genuine danger, and time was of the essence given how long they had been in the water and with night approaching.
“What the boy did was truly remarkable. His bravery and courage in those conditions were exceptional, and his actions were instrumental in bringing about a successful outcome.”
The sergeant also highlighted how the boy calmly conveyed vital details.
When asked to detail the equipment for the search crew, the teenager replied: “They were a green and white colour.”
“And I’m not sure if it’s there, but they had this fishing line, and there was a fish hooked. Because we caught one.”
