We Must Have a Chopper to Search For Them’: Adolescent’s Distress Call to Rescue Family Adrift Off Down Under Coast Unveiled

“We became disoriented out there,” young Austin Appelbee informs the emergency operator, following a swim four kilometres in choppy, open water and running two kilometres to get assistance for his household.

The operator asks how much time has elapsed since he started out.

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

Emergency services have disclosed the distress call made previously after the youth left his relatives drifting at sea off the West Australian coast to fetch help.

His voice remains steady and composed, even as he voices his concern for his family members.

“I am unsure of what their state is right now, and I’m terrified,” he confides in the person on the line.

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

The Harrowing Ordeal

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

His mum instructed him to set out and get assistance, so the teenager set off, ditching first his waterlogged vessel then his unwieldy PFD to make the journey by swimming.

After getting to the beach – following a four-hour swim – he raced for two kilometres to access a cell phone.

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

“I’m positioned 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 utterly fatigued. I have heatstroke, and I feel like I’m about to pass out.”

A Getaway in Peril

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

The woman later explained that they were having fun when the children “ventured out too far”. The wind picked up, they lost their oars, and started drifting.

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

The mother also described having to make “one of the hardest decisions” to instruct her son to make the swim for help.

“I knew he was the strongest and he was able to manage it,” she stated.

The Rescue Effort

The teenager described being “completely out of breath”.

“I just keep swimming, I do the breaststroke, I do freestyle, I do elementary backstroke,” he said.

The emergency call was made at approximately 6pm.

At about 8.30pm, ten hours after they first set out, the family were found and brought to safety. They had floated about 14km out to sea.

The recording was shared with the parents' permission.

A forward commander who oversaw the rescue mission said the family was in an “desperately dangerous position”.

“They were in genuine danger, and time was extremely pressing given how much time they had been in the water and with night approaching.

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

The officer also commended how the teenager clearly relayed vital details.

When asked to describe the paddleboards for the rescue team, the boy responded: “They were coloured green and white.”

“And I’m not sure if it’s still on, but they had this fishing rod, and there was a fish on there. Because we hooked one.”