🔗 Share this article We Require a Aircraft to Go Find Them’: 13-Year-Old’s Emergency Call to Save Loved Ones Stranded Off Australian Coast Unveiled “We ended up adrift out there,” young Austin Appelbee tells the triple-zero dispatcher, having swum four kilometres in choppy, open water and running two kilometres to summon rescue for his household. The dispatcher asks how much time has elapsed since he set off. “[It] was ages past … I think they’re a long way from land. I think we need a rescue aircraft to search for them,” he reports. Authorities have made public the distress call made last month after the youth departed from his relatives floating at sea off the West Australian coast to find rescuers. His tone remains steady and composed, even as he details his concern for his family. “I don’t know what their status is right now, and I’m really scared,” he confides in the operator. “Mum said to seek assistance … We were in massive trouble.” The Perilous Situation The mother and children had been pulled 4km out to sea in rough conditions while kayaking and paddleboarding. His parent urged him to set out and find help, so the teenager commenced, abandoning first his failing kayak then his unwieldy PFD to swim the distance. After getting to the beach – after an extensive period – he ran for 2km to get to a phone. “Hello, my name is Austin … I have younger siblings, Beau and Grace. Beau is 12 and Grace is eight,” he tells the call handler. “I’m located 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 utterly fatigued. I have sunstroke, and I feel like I’m about to faint.” A Getaway in Peril The family was on vacation in Quindalup, two hundred kilometres south of Perth. They set off from Geographe Bay some time after 10am on a Friday in late January. The mother later described that they were enjoying themselves when the kids “went out a bit too far”. The wind picked up, they dropped their paddles, and started floating away. “It pretty much all went wrong very, very quickly,” she remarked. The parent also spoke of having to make “one of the hardest decisions” to instruct her son to swim to land. “I knew he was the most capable and he could do it,” she said. The Rescue Effort The teenager recalled being “completely out of breath”. “I just continued swimming, I do breaststroke, I do freestyle, I do a floating stroke,” he recalled. The emergency call was made at about 6pm. At about 8.30pm, ten hours after they first began, the stranded individuals were found and brought to safety. They had drifted about fourteen kilometres out to sea. The emergency call was shared with the parents' permission. A police sergeant who coordinated the rescue mission said the family was in an “extremely dire situation”. “They were in real trouble, and time was extremely pressing given how long they had been in the water and with night approaching. “What the teenager did was incredibly brave. His bravery and courage in those conditions were remarkable, and his actions were crucial in bringing about a positive result.” The commander also highlighted how the youth calmly conveyed vital details. When asked to detail the paddleboards for the authorities, the youth responded: “They were a green and white colour.” “And I’m not sure if it’s still on, but they had this rod, and there was a fish hooked. Since we managed to catch a fish.”
“We ended up adrift out there,” young Austin Appelbee tells the triple-zero dispatcher, having swum four kilometres in choppy, open water and running two kilometres to summon rescue for his household. The dispatcher asks how much time has elapsed since he set off. “[It] was ages past … I think they’re a long way from land. I think we need a rescue aircraft to search for them,” he reports. Authorities have made public the distress call made last month after the youth departed from his relatives floating at sea off the West Australian coast to find rescuers. His tone remains steady and composed, even as he details his concern for his family. “I don’t know what their status is right now, and I’m really scared,” he confides in the operator. “Mum said to seek assistance … We were in massive trouble.” The Perilous Situation The mother and children had been pulled 4km out to sea in rough conditions while kayaking and paddleboarding. His parent urged him to set out and find help, so the teenager commenced, abandoning first his failing kayak then his unwieldy PFD to swim the distance. After getting to the beach – after an extensive period – he ran for 2km to get to a phone. “Hello, my name is Austin … I have younger siblings, Beau and Grace. Beau is 12 and Grace is eight,” he tells the call handler. “I’m located 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 utterly fatigued. I have sunstroke, and I feel like I’m about to faint.” A Getaway in Peril The family was on vacation in Quindalup, two hundred kilometres south of Perth. They set off from Geographe Bay some time after 10am on a Friday in late January. The mother later described that they were enjoying themselves when the kids “went out a bit too far”. The wind picked up, they dropped their paddles, and started floating away. “It pretty much all went wrong very, very quickly,” she remarked. The parent also spoke of having to make “one of the hardest decisions” to instruct her son to swim to land. “I knew he was the most capable and he could do it,” she said. The Rescue Effort The teenager recalled being “completely out of breath”. “I just continued swimming, I do breaststroke, I do freestyle, I do a floating stroke,” he recalled. The emergency call was made at about 6pm. At about 8.30pm, ten hours after they first began, the stranded individuals were found and brought to safety. They had drifted about fourteen kilometres out to sea. The emergency call was shared with the parents' permission. A police sergeant who coordinated the rescue mission said the family was in an “extremely dire situation”. “They were in real trouble, and time was extremely pressing given how long they had been in the water and with night approaching. “What the teenager did was incredibly brave. His bravery and courage in those conditions were remarkable, and his actions were crucial in bringing about a positive result.” The commander also highlighted how the youth calmly conveyed vital details. When asked to detail the paddleboards for the authorities, the youth responded: “They were a green and white colour.” “And I’m not sure if it’s still on, but they had this rod, and there was a fish hooked. Since we managed to catch a fish.”