‘We Need a Chopper to Go Find Them’: Teenager’s Emergency Call to Aid Relatives Lost Off Aussie Coast Disclosed

“We got lost out there,” young Austin Appelbee explains to the emergency operator, following a swim 4km in choppy, the sea and running 2km to summon rescue for his kin.

The dispatcher asks how much time has passed since he set off.

“[It] was quite some time back … I think they’re kilometres out to sea. I think we need a helicopter to go find them,” he reports.

Authorities have made public the recorded plea made last month after the boy departed from his family drifting at sea off the Western Australian coast to find rescuers.

His demeanour remains steady and composed, even as he voices his worry for his family members.

“I am unsure of what their state is right now, and I’m terrified,” he tells the operator.

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

The Dangerous Incident

The mother and children had been carried 4km out to sea in stormy conditions while kayaking and paddleboarding.

His parent asked him to take his kayak and locate rescue, so the youth began, ditching first his sinking craft then his unwieldy PFD to swim the distance.

After getting to the beach – following a four-hour swim – he sprinted for two kilometres to get to a mobile phone.

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

“I’m positioned on the beach right now, and I have to also add – I think I need an ambulance because I think I have exposure … I’m really, I’m extremely tired. I have heatstroke, and I feel like I’m about to collapse.”

A Holiday Turned Crisis

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

The mother later described that they were playing around when the young ones “went out a bit too far”. The conditions worsened, they dropped their paddles, and started being carried out.

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

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

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

The Successful Mission

The teenager recalled being “very puffed out”.

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

The emergency call was made at approximately 6pm.

At around 8.30pm, ten hours after they first began, the group 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 coordinated the operation said the group was in an “extremely dire situation”.

“They were in real trouble, and time was of the essence given how long they had been in the water and with daylight fading.

“What Austin did was nothing short of extraordinary. His bravery and courage in those conditions were astonishing, and his actions were crucial in bringing about a rescue.”

The officer also highlighted how the boy calmly conveyed vital details.

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

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