We Must Have a Helicopter to Search For Them’: Teenager’s Emergency Call to Aid Loved Ones Lost Off Australian Coast Revealed

“We got lost out there,” the teenager explains to the emergency operator, following a swim four kilometres in treacherous, open water and sprinting 2km to secure help for his kin.

The dispatcher inquires how long has gone by since he started out.

“[It] was ages past … I think they’re kilometres out to sea. I think we require a chopper to locate them,” he states.

Police have disclosed the emergency phone call made previously after the teen departed from his loved ones adrift at sea off the West Australian coast to fetch help.

His voice remains steady and composed, even as he expresses his concern for his family.

“I am unsure of what their status is right now, and I’m really scared,” he confides in the dispatcher.

“Mum said to seek assistance … We were in grave peril.”

The Perilous Situation

The mother and children had been carried 4km out to sea in stormy conditions while enjoying water sports.

His mother instructed him to take his kayak and get assistance, so the boy commenced, discarding first his sinking craft then his unwieldy PFD to make the journey by swimming.

After making it to shore – after an extensive period – he raced for two kilometres to get to a cell phone.

“Hello, my name is Austin … I have younger siblings, 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 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 pass out.”

A Holiday Turned Crisis

The group was on holiday in Quindalup, two hundred kilometres south of Perth. They set off from Geographe Bay some time after 10am on a Friday in late January.

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

“It sort of all became dangerous very, very quickly,” she said.

The mother also spoke of having to make “one of the hardest decisions” to ask her son to swim to land.

“I knew he was the most capable and he had the ability to succeed,” she stated.

The Search Operation

The boy recalled being “very puffed out”.

“I just pressed on, I do the breaststroke, I do freestyle, I do a floating stroke,” he explained.

The emergency call was made at around 6pm.

At about 8.30pm, ten hours after they first set out, the stranded individuals were found and brought to safety. They had been carried about fourteen kilometres out to sea.

The emergency call was made public with the family’s permission.

A forward commander who managed the operation said the group was in an “extremely dire situation”.

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

“What Austin did was truly remarkable. His heroic actions in those conditions were astonishing, and his actions were pivotal in bringing about a rescue.”

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

When asked to identify the boards for the rescue team, the youth replied: “They were a green and white colour.”

“And I’m not sure if it’s there, but they had this rod, and there was a catch on the line. Since we caught one.”