‘We Need a Aircraft to Search For Them’: Teenager’s Emergency Call to Aid Loved Ones Adrift Off Down Under Coast Disclosed

“We became disoriented out there,” young Austin Appelbee tells the triple-zero dispatcher, following a swim 2.5 miles in rough, open water and jogging 2km to summon rescue for his household.

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

“[It] was ages past … I think they’re a long way from land. I think we must get a helicopter to search for them,” he reports.

Authorities have released the distress call made previously after the youth departed from his family drifting at sea off the West Australian coast to seek assistance.

His demeanour remains steady and composed, even as he expresses his worry for his family members.

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

“Mum said to find rescue … We were in serious danger.”

The Dangerous Incident

The family group had been carried 4km out to sea in stormy conditions while kayaking and paddleboarding.

His mother asked him to take his kayak and get assistance, so the youth began, ditching first his sinking craft then his unwieldy PFD to cover the remaining stretch.

After making it to shore – after an extensive period – he raced for 2km to retrieve a mobile 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 located on the beach right now, and I have to also mention – I think I need an medical help because I think I have hypothermia … I’m really, I’m extremely tired. I have sunstroke, and I feel like I’m about to pass out.”

A Holiday Turned Crisis

The family was on a break in Quindalup, 125 miles south of Perth. They set off from Geographe Bay some time after 10am on a Friday in late January.

The parent later described that they were having fun when the kids “drifted further than intended”. The wind picked up, they dropped their paddles, and started being carried out.

“It kind of all became dangerous very, very quickly,” she said.

The parent also spoke of having to make “an incredibly tough choice” to ask her son to swim ashore.

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

The Search Operation

The youth described being “extremely winded”.

“I just continued swimming, I do breaststroke, I do front crawl, I do survival backstroke,” he recalled.

The emergency call was made at around 6pm.

At around 8.30pm, a full ten hours after they first departed, the stranded individuals were located and saved. They had been carried about 9 miles out to sea.

The audio was made public with the parents' permission.

A senior officer who coordinated the search and rescue effort said the family was in an “extremely dire situation”.

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

“What the teenager did was truly remarkable. His fortitude and resolve in those conditions were astonishing, and his actions were pivotal in bringing about a positive result.”

The sergeant also praised how the boy calmly conveyed vital details.

When asked to detail the equipment for the rescue team, the boy responded: “They were a green and white colour.”

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