‘We Need a Aircraft to Locate Them’: Teenager’s Urgent Plea to Save Loved Ones Adrift Off Aussie Coast Unveiled

“We got lost out there,” young Austin Appelbee tells the emergency operator, having swum 4km in treacherous, open water and sprinting 1.25 miles to secure help for his family.

The operator asks how long has elapsed since he started out.

“[It] was ages past … I think they’re kilometres out to sea. I think we need a helicopter to locate them,” he reports.

Police have disclosed the recorded plea made last month after the teen departed from his family adrift at sea off the Western Australian coast to fetch help.

His tone remains steady and composed, even as he details his fear for his family members.

“I have no idea about what their state is right now, and I’m extremely frightened,” he confides in the person on the line.

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

The Dangerous Incident

The mother and children had been swept 4km out to sea in stormy conditions while using kayaks and paddleboards.

His parent instructed him to take his kayak and locate rescue, so the youth began, abandoning first his failing kayak then his unwieldy PFD to make the journey by swimming.

After making it to shore – after an extensive period – 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 explains 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 completely exhausted. I have hyperthermia, and I feel like I’m about to pass out.”

A Vacation Gone Wrong

The group was on vacation in Quindalup, two hundred kilometres south of Perth. They set off from Geographe Bay around 10am on a Friday in late January.

The woman later described that they were playing around when the kids “ventured out too far”. The breeze strengthened, they lost their oars, and started being carried out.

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

The parent also described having to make “an incredibly tough choice” to ask her son to make the swim for help.

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

The Successful Mission

The boy explained being “completely out of breath”.

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

The distress call was made at around 6pm.

At around 8.30pm, ten hours after they first began, the stranded individuals were spotted and rescued. They had drifted about 9 miles out to sea.

The emergency call was shared with the parents' permission.

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

“They were in serious jeopardy, and time was absolutely critical given how much time they had been in the water and with night approaching.

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

The sergeant also commended how the youth calmly conveyed critical information.

When asked to identify the paddleboards for the authorities, the teenager responded: “They were coloured green and white.”

“And I’m not sure if it’s still on, but they had this rod, and there was a catch on the line. As we managed to catch a fish.”