We Must Have a Aircraft to Go Find Them’: Teenager’s Emergency Call to Rescue Relatives Stranded Off Aussie Coast Unveiled

“We got lost out there,” the teenager tells the triple-zero dispatcher, having swum 2.5 miles in treacherous, open ocean and sprinting 2km to secure help for his kin.

The call taker inquires how long has passed since he started out.

“[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 states.

Police have disclosed the distress call made last month after the youth left his relatives drifting at sea off the Western Australian coast to fetch help.

His voice remains lucid and collected, even as he voices his worry for his family.

“I have no idea about what their status is right now, and I’m extremely frightened,” he informs the operator.

“Mum said to seek assistance … We were in grave peril.”

The Harrowing Ordeal

The holidaymakers had been carried 4km out to sea in rough conditions while enjoying water sports.

His parent instructed him to set out and get assistance, so the youth commenced, discarding first his waterlogged vessel then his cumbersome lifejacket to swim the distance.

After getting to the beach – four hours later – he sprinted for 1.25 miles to access a mobile phone.

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

“I’m located on the beach right now, and I have to also add – 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 hyperthermia, and I feel like I’m about to pass out.”

A Holiday Turned Crisis

The family was on holiday in Quindalup, 200km 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 “ventured out too far”. The breeze strengthened, they lost their oars, and started being carried out.

“It sort of all turned bad very, very quickly,” she noted.

The mother also spoke of having to make “a terribly difficult call” to send her son to swim to land.

“I knew he was the strongest and he had the ability to succeed,” she said.

The Search Operation

The boy recalled being “very puffed out”.

“I just keep swimming, I do the breaststroke, I do freestyle, I do survival backstroke,” he recalled.

The emergency call was made at approximately 6pm.

At about 8.30pm, a full ten hours after they first began, the group were spotted and rescued. They had drifted about 14km out to sea.

The audio was released with the parents' permission.

A forward commander who managed the operation said the group was in an “extremely dire situation”.

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

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

The sergeant also praised how the youth clearly relayed vital details.

When asked to describe the equipment for the search crew, the boy responded: “They were green and white.”

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