We Must Have a Helicopter to Go Find Them’: Teenager’s Emergency Call to Save Relatives Lost Off Aussie Coast Unveiled

“We ended up adrift out there,” the teenager tells the 000 call handler, having swum 2.5 miles in choppy, the sea and jogging 2km to summon rescue for his household.

The call taker asks how much time has elapsed since he set off.

“[It] was quite some time back … I think they’re far offshore. I think we must get a rescue aircraft to search for them,” he reports.

Police have made public the distress call made previously after the youth departed from his relatives adrift at sea off the West Australian coast to fetch help.

His tone remains steady and composed, even as he expresses his worry for his family.

“I have no idea about what their condition is right now, and I’m extremely frightened,” he confides in the person on the line.

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

The Harrowing Ordeal

The family group had been pulled 2.5 miles out to sea in stormy conditions while enjoying water sports.

His mother asked him to take his kayak and locate rescue, so the boy commenced, discarding first his waterlogged vessel then his bulky flotation device to swim the distance.

After making it to shore – following a four-hour swim – he ran for two kilometres to get to a phone.

“Hello, my name is Austin … I have two siblings, Beau and Grace. Beau is 12 and Grace is eight,” he explains the call handler.

“I’m sitting 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 extremely tired. I have heatstroke, and I feel like I’m about to faint.”

A Holiday Turned Crisis

The holidaymakers was on holiday in Quindalup, 125 miles south of Perth. They set off from Geographe Bay around 10am on a Friday in late January.

The woman later described that they were playing around when the young ones “ventured out too far”. The breeze strengthened, they dropped their paddles, and started drifting.

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

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 could do it,” she stated.

The Rescue Effort

The youth recalled being “extremely winded”.

“I just pressed on, I do breaststroke, I do freestyle, I do survival backstroke,” he said.

The call for help was made at approximately 6pm.

At around 8.30pm, many hours after they first began, the stranded individuals were located and saved. They had been carried about 14km out to sea.

The audio was released with the parents' permission.

A forward commander who managed the search and rescue effort said the group was in an “desperately dangerous position”.

“They were in real trouble, and time was of the essence given how long they had been in the water and with daylight fading.

“What Austin did was nothing short of extraordinary. His bravery and courage in those conditions were remarkable, and his actions were pivotal in bringing about a rescue.”

The sergeant also praised how the teenager effectively communicated key facts.

When asked to detail the paddleboards for the rescue team, the teenager replied: “They were green and white.”

“And I’m not sure if it’s still on, but they had this rod, and there was a fish hooked. Because we caught one.”