We Must Have a Aircraft to Search For Them’: Teenager’s Emergency Call to Rescue Relatives Adrift Off Down Under Coast Unveiled

“We ended up adrift out there,” young Austin Appelbee explains to the emergency operator, having swum 2.5 miles in rough, the sea and jogging two kilometres to summon rescue for his household.

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 must get a chopper to locate them,” he says.

Emergency services have made public the recorded plea made in recent weeks after the boy left his loved ones adrift at sea off the West Australian coast to fetch help.

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

“I have no idea about what their state is right now, and I’m extremely frightened,” he tells the dispatcher.

“Mum said to find rescue … We were in massive trouble.”

The Dangerous Incident

The holidaymakers had been pulled 4km out to sea in rough conditions while enjoying water sports.

His mother urged him to set out and get assistance, so the youth commenced, ditching first his failing kayak then his cumbersome lifejacket to make the journey by swimming.

After making it to shore – after an extensive period – he sprinted for two kilometres to access a mobile 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 mention – I think I need an ambulance because I think I have exposure … I’m really, I’m extremely tired. I have hyperthermia, and I feel like I’m about to collapse.”

A Holiday Turned Crisis

The family was on holiday in Quindalup, 125 miles south of Perth. They departed from Geographe Bay some time after 10am on a Friday in late January.

The woman later explained that they were enjoying themselves when the kids “ventured out too far”. The conditions worsened, they were separated from their equipment, and started being carried out.

“It pretty much all went wrong very, very quickly,” she noted.

The parent also spoke of having to make “a terribly difficult call” to ask her son to make the swim for help.

“I knew he was the most capable and he could do 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 elementary backstroke,” he said.

The call for help was made at about 6pm.

At roughly 8.30pm, ten hours after they first departed, the family were spotted and rescued. They had been carried about 14km out to sea.

The audio was shared with the parents' permission.

A police sergeant who coordinated the search and rescue effort said the group 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 night approaching.

“What the teenager did was truly remarkable. His fortitude and resolve in those conditions were exceptional, and his actions were crucial in bringing about a rescue.”

The commander also praised how the youth calmly conveyed critical information.

When asked to detail the paddleboards for the search crew, the boy said: “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 on there. As we hooked one.”