🔗 Share this article ‘We Need a Aircraft to Search For Them’: Teenager’s Distress Call to Aid Loved Ones Stranded Off Aussie Coast Disclosed “We became disoriented out there,” the teenager informs the emergency operator, after swimming 2.5 miles in rough, the sea and sprinting two kilometres to summon rescue for his kin. The dispatcher asks how long has elapsed since he set off. “[It] was quite some time back … I think they’re a long way from land. I think we require a chopper to search for them,” he says. Authorities have released the distress call made in recent weeks after the boy departed from his relatives drifting at sea off the WA coast to find rescuers. His tone remains steady and composed, even as he voices his worry for his kin. “I am unsure of what their status is right now, and I’m really scared,” he tells the operator. “Mum said to find rescue … We were in grave peril.” The Dangerous Incident The holidaymakers had been pulled 4km out to sea in treacherous conditions while kayaking and paddleboarding. His mother asked him to set out and get assistance, so the youth set off, discarding first his sinking craft then his unwieldy PFD to cover the remaining stretch. After making it to shore – four hours later – he sprinted for two kilometres to access a mobile 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 emergency services. “I’m sitting on the beach right now, and I have to also add – I think I need an ambulance because I think I have hypothermia … I’m really, I’m completely exhausted. I have sunstroke, and I feel like I’m about to faint.” A Holiday Turned Crisis The holidaymakers was on vacation in Quindalup, two hundred kilometres south of Perth. They began their trip from Geographe Bay some time after 10am on a Friday in late January. The mother later recalled that they were enjoying themselves when the young ones “ventured out too far”. The breeze strengthened, they lost their oars, and started being carried out. “It pretty much all turned bad very, very quickly,” she said. The parent also referenced having to make “one of the hardest decisions” to instruct her son to swim ashore. “I knew he was the strongest and he was able to manage it,” she stated. The Rescue Effort The youth explained being “extremely winded”. “I just continued swimming, I do breaststroke, I do front crawl, I do elementary backstroke,” he said. 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 located and saved. They had floated about 9 miles out to sea. The emergency call was shared with the parents' permission. A police sergeant who managed the operation said the group was in an “extremely dire situation”. “They were in genuine danger, and time was of the essence given how much time they had been in the water and with light running out. “What the teenager did was truly remarkable. His fortitude and resolve in those conditions were astonishing, and his actions were instrumental in bringing about a rescue.” The sergeant also highlighted how the teenager effectively communicated vital details. When asked to detail the paddleboards for the authorities, the teenager replied: “They were coloured green and white.” “And I’m not sure if it’s there, but they had this fishing line, and there was a fish hooked. Because we managed to catch a fish.”
“We became disoriented out there,” the teenager informs the emergency operator, after swimming 2.5 miles in rough, the sea and sprinting two kilometres to summon rescue for his kin. The dispatcher asks how long has elapsed since he set off. “[It] was quite some time back … I think they’re a long way from land. I think we require a chopper to search for them,” he says. Authorities have released the distress call made in recent weeks after the boy departed from his relatives drifting at sea off the WA coast to find rescuers. His tone remains steady and composed, even as he voices his worry for his kin. “I am unsure of what their status is right now, and I’m really scared,” he tells the operator. “Mum said to find rescue … We were in grave peril.” The Dangerous Incident The holidaymakers had been pulled 4km out to sea in treacherous conditions while kayaking and paddleboarding. His mother asked him to set out and get assistance, so the youth set off, discarding first his sinking craft then his unwieldy PFD to cover the remaining stretch. After making it to shore – four hours later – he sprinted for two kilometres to access a mobile 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 emergency services. “I’m sitting on the beach right now, and I have to also add – I think I need an ambulance because I think I have hypothermia … I’m really, I’m completely exhausted. I have sunstroke, and I feel like I’m about to faint.” A Holiday Turned Crisis The holidaymakers was on vacation in Quindalup, two hundred kilometres south of Perth. They began their trip from Geographe Bay some time after 10am on a Friday in late January. The mother later recalled that they were enjoying themselves when the young ones “ventured out too far”. The breeze strengthened, they lost their oars, and started being carried out. “It pretty much all turned bad very, very quickly,” she said. The parent also referenced having to make “one of the hardest decisions” to instruct her son to swim ashore. “I knew he was the strongest and he was able to manage it,” she stated. The Rescue Effort The youth explained being “extremely winded”. “I just continued swimming, I do breaststroke, I do front crawl, I do elementary backstroke,” he said. 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 located and saved. They had floated about 9 miles out to sea. The emergency call was shared with the parents' permission. A police sergeant who managed the operation said the group was in an “extremely dire situation”. “They were in genuine danger, and time was of the essence given how much time they had been in the water and with light running out. “What the teenager did was truly remarkable. His fortitude and resolve in those conditions were astonishing, and his actions were instrumental in bringing about a rescue.” The sergeant also highlighted how the teenager effectively communicated vital details. When asked to detail the paddleboards for the authorities, the teenager replied: “They were coloured green and white.” “And I’m not sure if it’s there, but they had this fishing line, and there was a fish hooked. Because we managed to catch a fish.”