“We got lost out there,” a 13-year-old boy explains to the triple-zero dispatcher, following a swim four kilometres in treacherous, the sea and running 1.25 miles to summon rescue for his family.
The dispatcher questions how much time has passed since he began.
“[It] was quite some time back … I think they’re a long way from land. I think we must get a rescue aircraft to go find them,” he reports.
Authorities have made public the distress call made previously after the teen departed from his family drifting at sea off the West Australian coast to seek assistance.
His voice remains steady and composed, even as he details his worry for his family members.
“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 to find rescue … We were in grave peril.”
The family group had been swept four kilometres out to sea in stormy conditions while enjoying water sports.
His mum instructed him to take his kayak and locate rescue, so the teenager began, abandoning first his failing kayak then his cumbersome lifejacket to swim the distance.
After getting to the beach – four hours later – he ran for 2km to retrieve 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 emergency services.
“I’m sitting 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 completely exhausted. I have hyperthermia, and I feel like I’m about to pass out.”
The family was on a break in Quindalup, two hundred kilometres south of Perth. They set off from Geographe Bay some time after 10am on a Friday in late January.
The woman later recalled that they were playing around when the children “went out a bit too far”. The breeze strengthened, they dropped their paddles, and started being carried out.
“It sort of all went wrong very, very quickly,” she remarked.
The mother also referenced having to make “one of the hardest decisions” to instruct her son to make the swim for help.
“I knew he was the most capable and he was able to manage it,” she stated.
The boy explained being “very puffed out”.
“I just continued swimming, I do the breaststroke, I do freestyle, I do a floating stroke,” he said.
The distress call was made at about 6pm.
At roughly 8.30pm, many hours after they first began, the family were spotted and rescued. They had been carried about 9 miles out to sea.
The emergency call was shared with the mother’s permission.
A police sergeant who coordinated the operation said the family was in an “incredibly perilous state”.
“They were in genuine danger, and time was extremely pressing given how long they had been in the water and with night approaching.
“What Austin did was truly remarkable. His bravery and courage in those conditions were astonishing, and his actions were pivotal in bringing about a positive result.”
The commander also praised how the youth calmly conveyed vital details.
When asked to describe the paddleboards for the search crew, the youth responded: “They were coloured green and white.”
“And I’m not sure if it’s there, but they had this fishing line, and there was a fish on there. Since we managed to catch a fish.”
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