‘We Need a Helicopter to Go Find Them’: 13-Year-Old’s Emergency Call to Rescue Loved Ones Lost Off Australian Coast Unveiled

“We became disoriented out there,” young Austin Appelbee explains to the 000 call handler, following a swim four kilometres in treacherous, open ocean and sprinting 2km to summon rescue for his household.

The operator asks how much time has gone by since he began.

“[It] was a very long time ago … I think they’re kilometres out to sea. I think we require a rescue aircraft to search for them,” he says.

Police have made public the emergency phone call made previously after the teen departed from his loved ones adrift at sea off the Western Australian coast to find rescuers.

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

“I am unsure of what their state is right now, and I’m really scared,” he confides in the person on the line.

“Mum said go get help … We were in serious danger.”

The Dangerous Incident

The holidaymakers had been pulled 2.5 miles out to sea in treacherous conditions while using kayaks and paddleboards.

His mother asked him to set out and find help, so the boy commenced, discarding first his sinking craft then his cumbersome lifejacket to swim the distance.

After getting to the beach – four hours later – he ran for two kilometres to retrieve a cell phone.

“Hello, my name is Austin … I have younger 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 explain – I think I need an ambulance because I think I have hypothermia … I’m really, I’m utterly fatigued. I have hyperthermia, and I feel like I’m about to collapse.”

A Getaway in Peril

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

The mother later recalled that they were having fun when the young ones “drifted further than intended”. The breeze strengthened, they dropped their paddles, and started being carried out.

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

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

“I knew he was the most capable and he was able to manage it,” she said.

The Search Operation

The teenager explained being “very puffed out”.

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

The call for help was made at around 6pm.

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

The recording was made public with the family’s permission.

A police sergeant who coordinated the operation said the family was in an “desperately dangerous position”.

“They were in genuine danger, and time was absolutely critical given how long they had been in the water and with light running out.

“What the boy did was truly remarkable. His heroic actions in those conditions were astonishing, and his actions were crucial in bringing about a positive result.”

The officer also highlighted how the youth clearly relayed key facts.

When asked to identify the paddleboards for the authorities, the boy replied: “They were coloured 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. Because we hooked one.”