We Require a Chopper to Search For Them’: Teenager’s Urgent Plea to Rescue Family Lost Off Australian Coast Revealed

“We got lost out there,” young Austin Appelbee tells the triple-zero dispatcher, having swum 4km in choppy, open ocean and running 1.25 miles to summon rescue for his household.

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

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

Police have disclosed the recorded plea made previously after the youth left his loved ones adrift at sea off the WA coast to find rescuers.

His voice remains clear and calm, even as he expresses his concern for his kin.

“I don’t know what their condition is right now, and I’m extremely frightened,” he informs the person on the line.

“Mum said to find rescue … We were in massive trouble.”

The Harrowing Ordeal

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

His mum urged him to set out and get assistance, so the youth commenced, abandoning first his waterlogged vessel then his cumbersome lifejacket to cover the remaining stretch.

After getting to the beach – four hours later – he sprinted for two kilometres to access a phone.

“Hello, my name is Austin … I have a brother and sister, Beau and Grace. Beau is 12 and Grace is eight,” he states the emergency services.

“I’m sitting on the beach right now, and I have to also mention – I think I need an ambulance because I think I have a dangerously low body temperature … I’m really, I’m extremely tired. I have hyperthermia, and I feel like I’m about to collapse.”

A Vacation Gone Wrong

The family was on holiday in Quindalup, 125 miles south of Perth. They departed from Geographe Bay some time after 10am on a Friday in late January.

The woman later described that they were having fun when the young ones “ventured out too far”. The conditions worsened, they dropped their paddles, and started drifting.

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

The parent also described having to make “a terribly difficult call” to instruct her son to make the swim for help.

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

The Rescue Effort

The boy recalled being “very puffed out”.

“I just pressed on, I do the breaststroke, I do freestyle, I do a floating stroke,” he recalled.

The distress call was made at around 6pm.

At roughly 8.30pm, a full ten hours after they first set out, the stranded individuals were spotted and rescued. They had floated about 14km out to sea.

The audio was released with the mother’s permission.

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

“They were in real trouble, 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 incredibly brave. His heroic actions in those conditions were remarkable, and his actions were instrumental in bringing about a positive result.”

The officer also highlighted how the teenager effectively communicated vital details.

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

“And I’m not sure if it’s still on, but they had this fishing rod, and there was a fish hooked. As we hooked one.”