‘We Need a Aircraft to Search For Them’: Adolescent’s Emergency Call to Aid Family Lost Off Aussie Coast Revealed

“We became disoriented out there,” young Austin Appelbee informs the 000 call handler, following a swim four kilometres in choppy, open ocean and sprinting two kilometres to secure help for his household.

The operator questions how much time has elapsed since he started out.

“[It] was ages past … I think they’re far offshore. I think we need a chopper to search for them,” he states.

Authorities have made public the recorded plea made last month after the teen departed from his loved ones floating at sea off the Western Australian coast to find rescuers.

His demeanour remains clear and calm, even as he details his fear for his family.

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

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

The Harrowing Ordeal

The mother and children had been swept 2.5 miles out to sea in treacherous conditions while using kayaks and paddleboards.

His mum asked him to take his kayak and locate rescue, so the youth commenced, discarding first his failing kayak then his cumbersome lifejacket to swim the distance.

After making it to shore – following a four-hour swim – he sprinted for two kilometres to get to a phone.

“Hello, my name is Austin … I have younger siblings, Beau and Grace. Beau is 12 and Grace is eight,” he tells the emergency services.

“I’m located on the beach right now, and I have to also explain – I think I need an ambulance because I think I have hypothermia … I’m really, I’m completely exhausted. I have hyperthermia, and I feel like I’m about to pass out.”

A Holiday Turned Crisis

The holidaymakers was on a break in Quindalup, 200km south of Perth. They set off from Geographe Bay following 10am on a Friday in late January.

The parent later described that they were enjoying themselves when the young ones “went out a bit too far”. The wind picked up, they dropped their paddles, and started floating away.

“It pretty much all turned bad very, very quickly,” she remarked.

The parent also spoke of having to make “a terribly difficult call” to ask her son to swim to land.

“I knew he was the strongest and he had the ability to succeed,” she stated.

The Rescue Effort

The teenager explained being “very puffed out”.

“I just continued swimming, I do breaststroke, I do front crawl, I do a floating stroke,” he said.

The emergency call was made at approximately 6pm.

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

The audio was shared with the mother’s permission.

A forward commander who managed the operation said the group was in an “desperately dangerous position”.

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

“What the teenager did was incredibly brave. His fortitude and resolve in those conditions were astonishing, and his actions were pivotal in bringing about a successful outcome.”

The sergeant also praised how the boy calmly conveyed key facts.

When asked to detail the boards for the search crew, the boy said: “They were coloured green and white.”

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