We Must Have a Helicopter to Go Find Them’: Teenager’s Distress Call to Rescue Relatives Lost Off Australian Coast Revealed

“We ended up adrift out there,” young Austin Appelbee explains to the 000 call handler, after swimming 2.5 miles in treacherous, open water and sprinting 1.25 miles to get assistance for his kin.

The operator questions how much time has passed since he began.

“[It] was a very long time ago … I think they’re a long way from land. I think we must get a rescue aircraft to search for them,” he reports.

Emergency services have made public the recorded plea made last month after the teen departed from his relatives adrift at sea off the WA coast to fetch help.

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

“I have no idea about what their condition is right now, and I’m terrified,” he informs the operator.

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

The Dangerous Incident

The family group had been swept four kilometres out to sea in stormy conditions while using kayaks and paddleboards.

His parent instructed him to set out and locate rescue, so the teenager set off, abandoning first his sinking craft then his bulky flotation device to cover the remaining stretch.

After reaching land – four hours later – he sprinted for two kilometres to get to 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 states the operator.

“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 extremely tired. I have hyperthermia, and I feel like I’m about to pass out.”

A Vacation Gone Wrong

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

The mother later described that they were playing around when the children “went out a bit too far”. The breeze strengthened, they lost their oars, and started drifting.

“It kind of all became dangerous very, very quickly,” she remarked.

The mother also spoke of 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 Rescue Effort

The youth recalled being “extremely winded”.

“I just pressed on, I do the breaststroke, I do freestyle, I do elementary backstroke,” he recalled.

The distress call was made at around 6pm.

At roughly 8.30pm, ten hours after they first departed, the stranded individuals were found and brought to safety. They had floated about 9 miles out to sea.

The recording was made public with the parents' permission.

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

“They were in serious jeopardy, and time was extremely pressing given how long they had been in the water and with night approaching.

“What the boy did was truly remarkable. His fortitude and resolve in those conditions were astonishing, and his actions were instrumental in bringing about a rescue.”

The commander also highlighted how the teenager calmly conveyed key facts.

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

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