‘We Need a Helicopter to Go Find Them’: 13-Year-Old’s Emergency Call to Aid Family Stranded Off Down Under Coast Unveiled

“We got lost out there,” the teenager tells the triple-zero dispatcher, after swimming 2.5 miles in choppy, open ocean and sprinting 2km to secure help for his family.

The operator questions how long has elapsed since he set off.

“[It] was a very long time ago … I think they’re far offshore. I think we must get a chopper to go find them,” he reports.

Police have released the emergency phone call made in recent weeks after the teen left his family floating at sea off the Western Australian coast to find rescuers.

His tone remains clear and calm, even as he expresses his concern for his kin.

“I have no idea about what their state is right now, and I’m really scared,” he informs the dispatcher.

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

The Harrowing Ordeal

The holidaymakers had been swept 2.5 miles out to sea in rough conditions while enjoying water sports.

His parent urged him to use his craft and locate rescue, so the boy began, discarding first his sinking craft then his unwieldy PFD to make the journey by swimming.

After making it to shore – four hours later – he raced for 1.25 miles to get to 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 call handler.

“I’m positioned on the beach right now, and I have to also add – I think I need an paramedic because I think I have exposure … I’m really, I’m completely exhausted. I have sunstroke, and I feel like I’m about to faint.”

A Vacation Gone Wrong

The holidaymakers was on vacation in Quindalup, two hundred kilometres south of Perth. They departed from Geographe Bay following 10am on a Friday in late January.

The parent later explained that they were playing around when the young ones “went out a bit too far”. The conditions worsened, they dropped their paddles, and started floating away.

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

The parent also spoke of having to make “one of the hardest decisions” to send her son to swim ashore.

“I knew he was the best swimmer and he could do it,” she said.

The Rescue Effort

The teenager described being “completely out of breath”.

“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 about 6pm.

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

The emergency call was made public with the parents' permission.

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

“They were in real trouble, and time was extremely pressing given how long they had been in the water and with night approaching.

“What Austin did was nothing short of extraordinary. His bravery and courage in those conditions were remarkable, and his actions were instrumental in bringing about a positive result.”

The officer also praised how the teenager effectively communicated critical information.

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

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