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

“We became disoriented out there,” the teenager explains to the emergency operator, following a swim four kilometres in treacherous, open ocean and sprinting two kilometres to secure help for his kin.

The call taker inquires how long has elapsed since he began.

“[It] was a very long time ago … I think they’re a long way from land. I think we require a chopper to search for them,” he states.

Police have made public the emergency phone call made previously after the boy departed from his relatives drifting at sea off the Western Australian coast to fetch help.

His demeanour remains lucid and collected, even as he expresses his fear for his kin.

“I am unsure of what their status is right now, and I’m really scared,” he tells the dispatcher.

“Mum said to find rescue … We were in grave peril.”

The Harrowing Ordeal

The holidaymakers had been carried 4km out to sea in rough conditions while enjoying water sports.

His mum urged him to use his craft and find help, so the youth commenced, abandoning first his waterlogged vessel then his bulky flotation device to cover the remaining stretch.

After reaching land – following a four-hour swim – he sprinted for 1.25 miles 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 explains the call handler.

“I’m sitting on the beach right now, and I have to also mention – I think I need an paramedic because I think I have hypothermia … I’m really, I’m completely exhausted. I have hyperthermia, and I feel like I’m about to faint.”

A Getaway in Peril

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

The woman later recalled that they were enjoying themselves when the young ones “went out a bit too far”. The conditions worsened, they dropped their paddles, and started floating away.

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

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

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

The Search Operation

The teenager explained being “completely out of breath”.

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

The distress call was made at about 6pm.

At around 8.30pm, a full ten hours after they first departed, the stranded individuals were found and brought to safety. They had floated about 14km out to sea.

The emergency call was shared with the parents' permission.

A forward commander who coordinated the operation said the group was in an “extremely dire situation”.

“They were in serious jeopardy, and time was extremely pressing given how long they had been in the water and with daylight fading.

“What Austin did was nothing short of extraordinary. His fortitude and resolve in those conditions were exceptional, and his actions were pivotal in bringing about a positive result.”

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

When asked to describe the boards for the authorities, the teenager responded: “They were green and white.”

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