We Must Have a Helicopter to Go Find Them’: Teenager’s Distress Call to Aid Family Adrift Off Australian Coast Revealed

“We ended up adrift out there,” the teenager informs the 000 call handler, having swum 2.5 miles in rough, open ocean and jogging two kilometres to secure help for his kin.

The call taker questions how much time has gone by since he began.

“[It] was quite some time back … I think they’re far offshore. I think we need a helicopter to go find them,” he says.

Police have disclosed the emergency phone call made previously after the boy departed from his relatives drifting at sea off the WA coast to seek assistance.

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

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

“Mum said go get help … We were in serious danger.”

The Harrowing Ordeal

The holidaymakers had been carried 4km out to sea in stormy conditions while using kayaks and paddleboards.

His mum asked him to use his craft and locate rescue, so the teenager began, discarding first his waterlogged vessel then his cumbersome lifejacket to swim the distance.

After making it to shore – four hours later – he sprinted for 2km to retrieve 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 explains the call handler.

“I’m positioned on the beach right now, and I have to also explain – I think I need an paramedic because I think I have a dangerously low body temperature … I’m really, I’m utterly fatigued. I have hyperthermia, and I feel like I’m about to collapse.”

A Getaway in Peril

The family was on a break in Quindalup, 200km south of Perth. They departed from Geographe Bay some time after 10am on a Friday in late January.

The woman later explained that they were playing around when the young ones “drifted further than intended”. The conditions worsened, they lost their oars, and started floating away.

“It sort of all turned bad very, very quickly,” she said.

The mother also spoke of having to make “a terribly difficult call” to ask her son to make the swim for help.

“I knew he was the most capable and he was able to manage it,” she said.

The Successful Mission

The teenager explained being “completely out of breath”.

“I just keep swimming, I do the breaststroke, I do front crawl, I do survival backstroke,” he explained.

The emergency call was made at approximately 6pm.

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

The recording was shared with the parents' permission.

A forward commander who oversaw the search and rescue effort said the group was in an “incredibly perilous state”.

“They were in serious jeopardy, 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 fortitude and resolve in those conditions were remarkable, and his actions were pivotal in bringing about a successful outcome.”

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

When asked to describe the paddleboards for the authorities, the boy responded: “They were a green and white colour.”

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