We Must Have a Chopper to Go Find Them’: 13-Year-Old’s Emergency Call to Rescue Family Lost Off Aussie Coast Disclosed

“We got lost out there,” young Austin Appelbee tells the emergency operator, having swum four kilometres in rough, open water and running two kilometres to get assistance for his family.

The call taker inquires how much time has passed since he began.

“[It] was quite some time back … I think they’re kilometres out to sea. I think we need a rescue aircraft to locate them,” he states.

Police have disclosed the emergency phone call made previously after the youth left his loved ones drifting at sea off the West Australian coast to fetch help.

His voice remains lucid and collected, even as he details his concern for his kin.

“I don’t know what their status is right now, and I’m extremely frightened,” he tells the operator.

“Mum said to seek assistance … We were in massive trouble.”

The Perilous Situation

The holidaymakers had been swept four kilometres out to sea in stormy conditions while kayaking and paddleboarding.

His mum asked him to take his kayak and find help, so the teenager began, discarding first his failing kayak then his bulky flotation device to cover the remaining stretch.

After reaching land – following a four-hour swim – he sprinted 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 states the emergency services.

“I’m located on the beach right now, and I have to also add – I think I need an ambulance because I think I have exposure … I’m really, I’m utterly fatigued. I have hyperthermia, and I feel like I’m about to faint.”

A Vacation Gone Wrong

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

The parent later recalled that they were having fun when the children “drifted further than intended”. The conditions worsened, they lost their oars, and started being carried out.

“It pretty much all turned bad very, very quickly,” she said.

The parent also described having to make “one of the hardest decisions” to instruct her son to make the swim for help.

“I knew he was the strongest and he had the ability to succeed,” she said.

The Successful Mission

The youth explained being “completely out of breath”.

“I just continued swimming, I do breaststroke, I do front crawl, I do survival backstroke,” he said.

The call for help was made at around 6pm.

At around 8.30pm, ten hours after they first departed, the group were spotted and rescued. They had drifted about fourteen kilometres out to sea.

The recording was shared with the parents' permission.

A senior officer who coordinated the rescue mission said the group was in an “incredibly perilous state”.

“They were in serious jeopardy, and time was extremely pressing given how much time they had been in the water and with light running out.

“What the teenager did was truly remarkable. His heroic actions in those conditions were remarkable, and his actions were crucial in bringing about a positive result.”

The commander also commended how the boy clearly relayed critical information.

When asked to identify the paddleboards for the authorities, the youth replied: “They were green and white.”

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