“We got lost out there,” a 13-year-old boy explains to the triple-zero dispatcher, following a swim 2.5 miles in choppy, open water and running 2km to summon rescue for his family.
The call taker inquires how much time has passed since he began.
“[It] was ages past … I think they’re a long way from land. I think we need a helicopter to search for them,” he says.
Police have disclosed the recorded plea made previously after the boy left his loved ones floating at sea off the West Australian coast to fetch help.
His demeanour remains steady and composed, even as he voices his concern for his family members.
“I am unsure of what their condition is right now, and I’m terrified,” he tells the dispatcher.
“Mum said to seek assistance … We were in serious danger.”
The family group had been swept four kilometres out to sea in rough conditions while using kayaks and paddleboards.
His mother urged him to set out and find help, so the boy set off, ditching first his failing kayak then his cumbersome lifejacket to make the journey by swimming.
After getting to the beach – following a four-hour swim – he sprinted 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 tells the call handler.
“I’m located on the beach right now, and I have to also explain – I think I need an medical help because I think I have exposure … I’m really, I’m utterly fatigued. I have sunstroke, and I feel like I’m about to collapse.”
The group was on vacation in Quindalup, two hundred kilometres south of Perth. They departed from Geographe Bay some time after 10am on a Friday in late January.
The mother later described that they were having fun when the kids “drifted further than intended”. The wind picked up, they were separated from their equipment, and started floating away.
“It pretty much all became dangerous very, very quickly,” she remarked.
The parent also spoke of having to make “a terribly difficult call” to send her son to swim to land.
“I knew he was the most capable and he could do it,” she said.
The teenager explained being “very puffed out”.
“I just pressed on, I do breaststroke, I do front crawl, I do elementary backstroke,” he recalled.
The distress call was made at around 6pm.
At about 8.30pm, a full ten hours after they first began, the stranded individuals were spotted and rescued. They had been carried about 14km out to sea.
The recording was shared with the family’s permission.
A forward commander who managed the search and rescue effort said the family was in an “incredibly perilous state”.
“They were in genuine danger, and time was of the essence given how long they had been in the water and with night approaching.
“What the boy did was truly remarkable. His heroic actions in those conditions were exceptional, and his actions were crucial in bringing about a successful outcome.”
The commander also commended how the youth calmly conveyed vital details.
When asked to identify the paddleboards for the search crew, the boy replied: “They were green and white.”
“And I’m not sure if it’s still on, but they had this rod, and there was a fish on there. As we caught one.”
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