We Must Have a Helicopter to Search For Them’: Adolescent’s Distress Call to Rescue Family Lost Off Aussie Coast Revealed

“We got lost out there,” young Austin Appelbee explains to the emergency operator, following a swim four kilometres in treacherous, open water and sprinting 1.25 miles to get assistance for his kin.

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

“[It] was quite some time back … I think they’re far offshore. I think we need a helicopter to search for them,” he states.

Authorities have made public the distress call made last month after the youth departed from his family drifting at sea off the WA coast to find rescuers.

His demeanour remains clear and calm, even as he voices his concern for his kin.

“I am unsure of what their condition is right now, and I’m terrified,” he informs the operator.

“Mum said to seek assistance … We were in serious danger.”

The Dangerous Incident

The family group had been carried four kilometres out to sea in rough conditions while kayaking and paddleboarding.

His mother urged him to use his craft and locate rescue, so the teenager commenced, ditching first his sinking craft then his cumbersome lifejacket to make the journey by swimming.

After getting to the beach – following a four-hour swim – he sprinted for two kilometres to retrieve a phone.

“Hello, my name is Austin … I have younger siblings, Beau and Grace. Beau is 12 and Grace is eight,” he explains the operator.

“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 hypothermia … I’m really, I’m utterly fatigued. I have heatstroke, and I feel like I’m about to faint.”

A Vacation Gone Wrong

The family was on holiday in Quindalup, 125 miles south of Perth. They began their trip from Geographe Bay around 10am on a Friday in late January.

The parent later described that they were having fun when the kids “went out a bit too far”. The breeze strengthened, they dropped their paddles, and started drifting.

“It pretty much all became dangerous very, very quickly,” she noted.

The mother also referenced 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 had the ability to succeed,” she stated.

The Rescue Effort

The youth described being “extremely winded”.

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

The distress call was made at around 6pm.

At about 8.30pm, a full ten hours after they first set out, the group were spotted and rescued. They had been carried about fourteen kilometres out to sea.

The audio was made public with the family’s permission.

A police sergeant who coordinated the search and rescue effort said the group was in an “extremely dire situation”.

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

“What Austin did was nothing short of extraordinary. His heroic actions in those conditions were remarkable, and his actions were instrumental in bringing about a successful outcome.”

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

When asked to describe the paddleboards for the search crew, the boy said: “They were a green and white colour.”

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