We Require a Helicopter to Search For Them’: 13-Year-Old’s Distress Call to Aid Family Adrift Off Down Under Coast Unveiled

“We became disoriented out there,” a 13-year-old boy explains to the triple-zero dispatcher, having swum 2.5 miles in treacherous, open ocean and sprinting two kilometres to get assistance for his family.

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

“[It] was ages past … I think they’re far offshore. I think we require a helicopter to search for them,” he says.

Authorities have disclosed the distress call made previously after the youth departed from his family floating at sea off the West Australian coast to fetch help.

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

“I don’t know what their state is right now, and I’m terrified,” he confides in the person on the line.

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

The Dangerous Incident

The family group had been pulled 4km out to sea in stormy conditions while enjoying water sports.

His mum asked him to set out and locate rescue, so the teenager commenced, ditching first his waterlogged vessel then his bulky flotation device to cover the remaining stretch.

After making it to shore – following a four-hour swim – he raced for 1.25 miles to retrieve a phone.

“Hello, my name is Austin … I have younger siblings, Beau and Grace. Beau is 12 and Grace is eight,” he tells the operator.

“I’m positioned on the beach right now, and I have to also add – I think I need an ambulance because I think I have a dangerously low body temperature … I’m really, I’m utterly fatigued. I have heatstroke, and I feel like I’m about to pass out.”

A Holiday Turned Crisis

The holidaymakers was on holiday in Quindalup, 125 miles south of Perth. They departed from Geographe Bay some time after 10am on a Friday in late January.

The mother later recalled that they were having fun when the kids “ventured out too far”. The conditions worsened, they lost their oars, and started floating away.

“It pretty much all became dangerous 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 best swimmer and he could do it,” she said.

The Successful Mission

The youth described being “completely out of breath”.

“I just continued swimming, I do the breaststroke, I do front crawl, I do a floating stroke,” he explained.

The emergency call was made at about 6pm.

At around 8.30pm, ten hours after they first began, the stranded individuals were located and saved. They had drifted about fourteen kilometres out to sea.

The audio was released with the parents' permission.

A senior officer who coordinated the search and rescue effort said the group was in an “desperately dangerous position”.

“They were in real trouble, and time was extremely pressing given how much time they had been in the water and with daylight fading.

“What the boy did was nothing short of extraordinary. His bravery and courage in those conditions were exceptional, and his actions were crucial in bringing about a positive result.”

The commander also commended how the teenager effectively communicated key facts.

When asked to describe the equipment for the rescue team, the boy said: “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 on there. As we hooked one.”