‘We Need a Chopper to Search For Them’: Adolescent’s Emergency Call to Aid Loved Ones Stranded Off Aussie Coast Disclosed

“We got lost out there,” young Austin Appelbee explains to the triple-zero dispatcher, after swimming 4km in rough, the sea and running two kilometres to secure help for his kin.

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

“[It] was quite some time back … I think they’re far offshore. I think we must get a chopper to go find them,” he reports.

Police have made public the emergency phone call made previously after the boy 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 details his worry for his family.

“I am unsure of what their state is right now, and I’m extremely frightened,” he confides in the person on the line.

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

The Perilous Situation

The holidaymakers had been carried 2.5 miles out to sea in rough conditions while enjoying water sports.

His mum asked him to take his kayak and get assistance, so the boy commenced, discarding first his sinking craft then his cumbersome lifejacket to make the journey by swimming.

After making it to shore – four hours later – he raced for 2km to access a cell phone.

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

“I’m sitting on the beach right now, and I have to also explain – I think I need an medical help because I think I have hypothermia … I’m really, I’m completely exhausted. I have hyperthermia, and I feel like I’m about to pass out.”

A Getaway in Peril

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

The parent later explained that they were playing around when the kids “drifted further than intended”. The wind picked up, they dropped their paddles, and started being carried out.

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

The parent also referenced having to make “one of the hardest decisions” to ask her son to make the swim for help.

“I knew he was the strongest and he had the ability to succeed,” she said.

The Successful Mission

The teenager described being “very puffed out”.

“I just continued swimming, I do the breaststroke, I do front crawl, I do survival backstroke,” he said.

The distress call was made at about 6pm.

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

The audio was released with the family’s permission.

A forward commander who coordinated the rescue mission said the group was in an “extremely dire situation”.

“They were in serious jeopardy, and time was absolutely critical given how much time they had been in the water and with light running out.

“What Austin did was nothing short of extraordinary. His fortitude and resolve in those conditions were exceptional, and his actions were crucial in bringing about a rescue.”

The officer also highlighted how the boy clearly relayed critical information.

When asked to describe the paddleboards for the search crew, the youth replied: “They were green and white.”

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