We Must Have a Aircraft to Go Find Them’: Teenager’s Urgent Plea to Save Family Lost Off Aussie Coast Disclosed

“We became disoriented out there,” the teenager informs the triple-zero dispatcher, following a swim 2.5 miles in treacherous, open ocean and running two kilometres to secure help for his household.

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

“[It] was quite some time back … I think they’re far offshore. I think we must get a rescue aircraft to search for them,” he says.

Authorities have disclosed the emergency phone call made previously after the boy departed from his loved ones floating at sea off the Western Australian coast to fetch help.

His tone remains clear and calm, even as he voices his fear for his family.

“I don’t know what their condition is right now, and I’m really scared,” he tells the dispatcher.

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

The Harrowing Ordeal

The holidaymakers had been pulled four kilometres out to sea in stormy conditions while kayaking and paddleboarding.

His mother asked him to take his kayak and locate rescue, so the boy commenced, discarding first his waterlogged vessel then his bulky flotation device to make the journey by swimming.

After making it to shore – four hours later – he raced for 2km 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 positioned on the beach right now, and I have to also explain – I think I need an medical help because I think I have a dangerously low body temperature … I’m really, I’m utterly fatigued. I have sunstroke, and I feel like I’m about to pass out.”

A Vacation Gone Wrong

The group was on holiday in Quindalup, 200km south of Perth. They set off from Geographe Bay around 10am on a Friday in late January.

The parent later recalled that they were enjoying themselves when the kids “drifted further than intended”. The conditions worsened, they dropped their paddles, and started floating away.

“It sort of all went wrong very, very quickly,” she noted.

The mother also described having to make “one of the hardest decisions” to instruct her son to swim ashore.

“I knew he was the strongest and he was able to manage it,” she said.

The Rescue Effort

The teenager explained being “completely out of breath”.

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

The distress call was made at around 6pm.

At about 8.30pm, many hours after they first set out, the group were located and saved. They had been carried about 9 miles out to sea.

The recording was shared with the parents' permission.

A senior officer who managed the search and rescue effort said the group was in an “incredibly perilous state”.

“They were in serious jeopardy, and time was of the essence given how much time they had been in the water and with light running out.

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

The officer also praised how the teenager effectively communicated key facts.

When asked to describe the equipment for the rescue team, the teenager replied: “They were a green and white colour.”

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