We Must Have a Aircraft to Search For Them’: 13-Year-Old’s Urgent Plea to Rescue Loved Ones Stranded Off Aussie Coast Revealed

“We got lost out there,” a 13-year-old boy tells the 000 call handler, following a swim four kilometres in treacherous, open ocean and running two kilometres to get assistance for his kin.

The operator questions how much time has gone by since he set off.

“[It] was a very long time ago … I think they’re far offshore. I think we require a rescue aircraft to locate them,” he reports.

Police have disclosed the emergency phone call made previously after the boy departed from his relatives drifting at sea off the Western Australian coast to fetch help.

His voice remains clear and calm, even as he voices his worry for his family.

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

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

The Dangerous Incident

The family group had been carried 4km out to sea in treacherous conditions while kayaking and paddleboarding.

His parent instructed him to set out and locate rescue, so the teenager commenced, discarding first his sinking craft then his unwieldy PFD to swim the distance.

After making it to shore – after an extensive period – he ran for 1.25 miles to get to a mobile 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 located 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 pass out.”

A Getaway in Peril

The group was on holiday in Quindalup, 200km south of Perth. They began their trip from Geographe Bay following 10am on a Friday in late January.

The parent later described that they were enjoying themselves when the young ones “ventured out too far”. The conditions worsened, they were separated from their equipment, and started floating away.

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

The mother also spoke of having to make “an incredibly tough choice” to send her son to make the swim for help.

“I knew he was the most capable and he could do it,” she said.

The Successful Mission

The youth described being “completely out of breath”.

“I just keep swimming, I do the breaststroke, I do front crawl, I do elementary backstroke,” he recalled.

The call for help was made at approximately 6pm.

At around 8.30pm, many hours after they first began, the family were found and brought to safety. They had drifted about 14km out to sea.

The emergency call was released with the parents' permission.

A senior officer who managed the rescue mission said the group was in an “desperately dangerous position”.

“They were in serious jeopardy, and time was absolutely critical given how long 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 remarkable, and his actions were instrumental in bringing about a rescue.”

The commander also highlighted how the youth calmly conveyed vital details.

When asked to detail the equipment for the search crew, the teenager responded: “They were 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 hooked one.”