We Must Have a Chopper to Locate Them’: 13-Year-Old’s Emergency Call to Save Loved Ones Lost Off Australian Coast Revealed

“We ended up adrift out there,” a 13-year-old boy informs the emergency operator, having swum 2.5 miles in choppy, open ocean and running two kilometres to summon rescue for his household.

The operator asks how long has elapsed since he set off.

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

Authorities have released the distress call made previously after the teen left his relatives drifting at sea off the Western Australian coast to fetch help.

His tone remains lucid and collected, even as he details his concern for his kin.

“I don’t know what their status is right now, and I’m extremely frightened,” he confides in the operator.

“Mum said go get help … We were in grave peril.”

The Harrowing Ordeal

The family group had been pulled 2.5 miles out to sea in rough conditions while enjoying water sports.

His mum instructed him to take his kayak and find help, so the teenager set off, ditching first his sinking craft then his bulky flotation device to swim the distance.

After reaching land – four hours later – he raced for 1.25 miles to access 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 call handler.

“I’m sitting on the beach right now, and I have to also mention – I think I need an paramedic because I think I have a dangerously low body temperature … I’m really, I’m completely exhausted. I have heatstroke, and I feel like I’m about to pass out.”

A Vacation Gone Wrong

The holidaymakers was on holiday in Quindalup, 200km south of Perth. They began their trip from Geographe Bay some time after 10am on a Friday in late January.

The mother later explained that they were enjoying themselves when the children “drifted further than intended”. The conditions worsened, they lost their oars, and started being carried out.

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

The mother also described having to make “an incredibly tough choice” to ask her son to make the swim for help.

“I knew he was the most capable and he could do it,” she stated.

The Rescue Effort

The teenager recalled being “extremely winded”.

“I just pressed on, I do the breaststroke, I do front crawl, I do survival backstroke,” he recalled.

The call for help was made at around 6pm.

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

The recording was made public with the parents' permission.

A police sergeant who oversaw the rescue mission said the group was in an “desperately dangerous position”.

“They were in genuine danger, and time was of the essence given how long they had been in the water and with light running out.

“What the boy did was truly remarkable. His heroic actions in those conditions were exceptional, and his actions were pivotal in bringing about a positive result.”

The officer also praised how the teenager effectively communicated key facts.

When asked to identify the paddleboards for the authorities, the youth responded: “They were coloured green and white.”

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