We Must Have a Chopper to Search For Them’: 13-Year-Old’s Distress Call to Aid Relatives Lost Off Aussie Coast Unveiled

“We ended up adrift out there,” the teenager explains to the 000 call handler, following a swim 2.5 miles in rough, the sea and running 1.25 miles to secure help for his family.

The dispatcher asks how much time has passed since he set off.

“[It] was a very long time ago … I think they’re far offshore. I think we need a helicopter to search for them,” he states.

Authorities have released the distress call made last month after the teen departed from his relatives adrift at sea off the Western Australian coast to find rescuers.

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

“I am unsure of what their condition is right now, and I’m really scared,” he informs the dispatcher.

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

The Dangerous Incident

The mother and children had been pulled four kilometres out to sea in stormy conditions while enjoying water sports.

His mum asked him to set out and locate rescue, so the teenager began, ditching first his sinking craft then his unwieldy PFD to make the journey by swimming.

After getting to the beach – after an extensive period – he ran for 1.25 miles to retrieve a cell 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 call handler.

“I’m located on the beach right now, and I have to also explain – I think I need an medical help because I think I have hypothermia … I’m really, I’m completely exhausted. I have heatstroke, and I feel like I’m about to pass out.”

A Holiday Turned Crisis

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

The mother later recalled that they were having fun when the children “drifted further than intended”. The conditions worsened, they dropped their paddles, and started floating away.

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

The mother also described having to make “a terribly difficult call” to send her son to make the swim for help.

“I knew he was the most capable and he was able to manage it,” she commented.

The Rescue Effort

The boy recalled being “extremely winded”.

“I just continued swimming, I do the breaststroke, I do front crawl, I do a floating stroke,” he recalled.

The emergency call was made at approximately 6pm.

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

The recording was shared with the parents' permission.

A police sergeant who managed 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 much time they had been in the water and with night approaching.

“What the teenager did was incredibly brave. His fortitude and resolve in those conditions were exceptional, and his actions were pivotal in bringing about a positive result.”

The officer also highlighted how the teenager calmly conveyed critical information.

When asked to identify the paddleboards for the authorities, the boy replied: “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 managed to catch a fish.”