We Must Have a Helicopter to Go Find Them’: Adolescent’s Emergency Call to Save Loved Ones Adrift Off Aussie Coast Revealed

“We got lost out there,” the teenager explains to the emergency operator, following a swim 2.5 miles in rough, the sea and sprinting two kilometres to secure help for his kin.

The call taker asks how long has elapsed since he started out.

“[It] was a very long time ago … I think they’re a long way from land. I think we need a rescue aircraft to locate them,” he states.

Authorities have made public the emergency phone call made last month after the youth left his relatives adrift at sea off the WA coast to fetch help.

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

“I have no idea about what their condition is right now, and I’m terrified,” he informs the operator.

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

The Perilous Situation

The holidaymakers had been carried 2.5 miles out to sea in stormy conditions while enjoying water sports.

His mum instructed him to use his craft and locate rescue, so the boy began, discarding 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 cell phone.

“Hello, my name is Austin … I have a brother and sister, Beau and Grace. Beau is 12 and Grace is eight,” he tells the emergency services.

“I’m sitting on the beach right now, and I have to also add – I think I need an medical help because I think I have a dangerously low body temperature … I’m really, I’m utterly fatigued. I have sunstroke, and I feel like I’m about to faint.”

A Vacation Gone Wrong

The family was on vacation in Quindalup, two hundred kilometres south of Perth. They departed from Geographe Bay following 10am on a Friday in late January.

The mother later explained that they were having fun when the children “went out a bit too far”. The conditions worsened, they dropped their paddles, and started being carried out.

“It kind of all went wrong very, very quickly,” she said.

The mother also referenced having to make “a terribly difficult call” to instruct her son to swim ashore.

“I knew he was the best swimmer and he could do it,” she commented.

The Search Operation

The teenager described being “extremely winded”.

“I just pressed on, I do the breaststroke, I do front crawl, I do elementary backstroke,” he explained.

The call for help was made at approximately 6pm.

At around 8.30pm, a full ten hours after they first set out, the family were spotted and rescued. They had been carried about fourteen kilometres out to sea.

The recording was made public with the family’s permission.

A police sergeant who coordinated the rescue mission said the family was in an “incredibly perilous state”.

“They were in genuine danger, and time was extremely pressing given how long they had been in the water and with daylight fading.

“What the boy did was nothing short of extraordinary. His bravery and courage in those conditions were exceptional, and his actions were crucial in bringing about a rescue.”

The officer also praised how the youth clearly relayed vital details.

When asked to describe the equipment for the rescue team, the youth said: “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 catch on the line. Since we hooked one.”