We Require a Chopper to Search For Them’: Adolescent’s Distress Call to Aid Relatives Stranded Off Down Under Coast Revealed

“We became disoriented out there,” young Austin Appelbee informs the 000 call handler, following a swim 2.5 miles in choppy, the sea and jogging 2km to get assistance for his family.

The dispatcher questions how much time has passed since he began.

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

Emergency services have made public the emergency phone call made in recent weeks after the teen left his family drifting at sea off the WA coast to fetch help.

His voice remains steady and composed, even as he details his worry for his kin.

“I don’t know what their condition is right now, and I’m terrified,” he confides in the dispatcher.

“Mum said go get help … We were in massive trouble.”

The Perilous Situation

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

His parent instructed him to set out and locate rescue, so the boy set off, discarding first his failing kayak then his unwieldy PFD to make the journey by swimming.

After reaching land – after an extensive period – he raced for two kilometres to get to a phone.

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

“I’m located on the beach right now, and I have to also explain – I think I need an paramedic because I think I have a dangerously low body temperature … I’m really, I’m utterly fatigued. I have heatstroke, and I feel like I’m about to collapse.”

A Getaway in Peril

The holidaymakers was on vacation 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 playing around when the kids “went out a bit too far”. The breeze strengthened, they dropped their paddles, and started floating away.

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

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

“I knew he was the most capable and he could do it,” she commented.

The Search Operation

The boy described being “extremely winded”.

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

The emergency call was made at around 6pm.

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

The recording was released with the family’s permission.

A forward commander who coordinated the rescue mission said the group 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 nothing short of extraordinary. His bravery and courage in those conditions were exceptional, and his actions were pivotal in bringing about a positive result.”

The commander also praised how the teenager clearly relayed vital details.

When asked to identify the equipment for the search crew, the boy replied: “They were coloured green and white.”

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