We Must Have a Chopper to Go Find Them’: Adolescent’s Distress Call to Rescue Family Stranded Off Aussie Coast Unveiled

“We ended up adrift out there,” young Austin Appelbee informs the emergency operator, following a swim four kilometres in treacherous, open water and sprinting two kilometres to secure help for his family.

The dispatcher inquires how long has passed since he set off.

“[It] was a very long time ago … I think they’re far offshore. I think we require a chopper to search for them,” he says.

Authorities have released the emergency phone call made last month after the youth left his family drifting at sea off the West Australian coast to seek assistance.

His tone remains clear and calm, even as he voices his fear for his family.

“I don’t know what their condition is right now, and I’m terrified,” he informs the operator.

“Mum said to find rescue … We were in grave peril.”

The Harrowing Ordeal

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

His mum instructed him to take his kayak and get assistance, so the teenager set off, discarding first his waterlogged vessel then his cumbersome lifejacket to make the journey by swimming.

After getting to the beach – four hours later – he ran for 2km to retrieve a 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 call handler.

“I’m sitting on the beach right now, and I have to also mention – 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 collapse.”

A Getaway in Peril

The family was on vacation 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 playing around when the kids “went out a bit too far”. The breeze strengthened, they lost their oars, and started being carried out.

“It pretty much all turned bad very, very quickly,” she said.

The mother also referenced having to make “a terribly difficult call” to ask her son to swim to land.

“I knew he was the strongest and he could do it,” she commented.

The Search Operation

The teenager described being “completely out of breath”.

“I just continued swimming, I do the breaststroke, I do freestyle, I do a floating stroke,” he said.

The call for help was made at about 6pm.

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

The audio was shared with the mother’s permission.

A police sergeant who oversaw the search and rescue effort said the family was in an “desperately dangerous position”.

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

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

The officer also highlighted how the teenager calmly conveyed critical information.

When asked to detail the equipment for the search crew, the youth said: “They were a green and white colour.”

“And I’m not sure if it’s there, but they had this rod, and there was a fish on there. Because we managed to catch a fish.”