‘We Need a Helicopter to Locate Them’: Teenager’s Distress Call to Aid Loved Ones Stranded Off Down Under Coast Disclosed

“We ended up adrift out there,” young Austin Appelbee explains to the 000 call handler, following a swim four kilometres in choppy, open water and running 1.25 miles to secure help for his household.

The dispatcher inquires how much time has passed since he set off.

“[It] was a very long time ago … I think they’re kilometres out to sea. I think we require a chopper to locate them,” he reports.

Police have disclosed the emergency phone call made in recent weeks after the boy left his family adrift at sea off the Western Australian coast to fetch help.

His voice remains steady and composed, even as he details his worry for his kin.

“I don’t know what their state is right now, and I’m really scared,” he confides in the dispatcher.

“Mum said to find rescue … We were in serious danger.”

The Harrowing Ordeal

The holidaymakers had been carried 2.5 miles out to sea in rough conditions while kayaking and paddleboarding.

His mother asked him to set out and get assistance, so the youth set off, discarding first his sinking craft then his unwieldy PFD to cover the remaining stretch.

After reaching land – after an extensive period – he raced for 1.25 miles to get to a cell phone.

“Hello, my name is Austin … I have a brother and sister, Beau and Grace. Beau is 12 and Grace is eight,” he tells the emergency services.

“I’m located on the beach right now, and I have to also mention – I think I need an medical help because I think I have exposure … I’m really, I’m completely exhausted. I have hyperthermia, and I feel like I’m about to collapse.”

A Vacation Gone Wrong

The holidaymakers was on a break in Quindalup, two hundred kilometres south of Perth. They set off from Geographe Bay around 10am on a Friday in late January.

The woman later recalled that they were enjoying themselves when the young ones “drifted further than intended”. The wind picked up, they lost their oars, and started floating away.

“It sort of all went wrong very, very quickly,” she remarked.

The parent also described having to make “one of the hardest decisions” to send her son to swim ashore.

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

The Rescue Effort

The youth described being “completely out of breath”.

“I just pressed on, I do breaststroke, I do front crawl, I do a floating stroke,” he explained.

The call for help was made at about 6pm.

At roughly 8.30pm, a full ten hours after they first set out, the stranded individuals were found and brought to safety. They had been carried about 14km out to sea.

The audio was made public with the parents' permission.

A police sergeant who coordinated 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 much time they had been in the water and with daylight fading.

“What Austin did was incredibly brave. His fortitude and resolve in those conditions were remarkable, and his actions were instrumental in bringing about a rescue.”

The officer also commended how the teenager clearly relayed key facts.

When asked to detail the equipment for the rescue team, the boy replied: “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 hooked. Because we managed to catch a fish.”