We Must Have a Helicopter to Go Find Them’: Adolescent’s Urgent Plea to Rescue Loved Ones Lost Off Down Under Coast Revealed

“We got lost out there,” young Austin Appelbee explains to the emergency operator, following a swim four kilometres in choppy, open ocean and jogging 2km to summon rescue for his kin.

The dispatcher inquires how long has elapsed since he began.

“[It] was a very long time ago … I think they’re far offshore. I think we need a helicopter to go find them,” he reports.

Emergency services have made public the recorded plea made in recent weeks after the teen departed from his loved ones floating at sea off the West Australian coast to seek assistance.

His voice remains lucid and collected, even as he details his worry for his family members.

“I am unsure of what their condition is right now, and I’m extremely frightened,” he confides in the operator.

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

The Perilous Situation

The mother and children had been carried 2.5 miles out to sea in stormy conditions while kayaking and paddleboarding.

His mum urged him to set out and locate rescue, so the teenager commenced, ditching first his waterlogged vessel then his cumbersome lifejacket to make the journey by swimming.

After making it to shore – four hours later – he raced for 1.25 miles to retrieve a cell phone.

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

“I’m positioned 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 collapse.”

A Holiday Turned Crisis

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 parent later recalled that they were playing around when the young ones “drifted further than intended”. The conditions worsened, they dropped their paddles, and started being carried out.

“It pretty much all went wrong very, very quickly,” she noted.

The mother also spoke of having to make “a terribly difficult call” to send her son to make the swim for help.

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

The Search Operation

The teenager explained being “completely out of breath”.

“I just pressed on, I do breaststroke, I do freestyle, I do elementary backstroke,” he said.

The emergency call was made at around 6pm.

At about 8.30pm, a full ten hours after they first departed, the family were found and brought to safety. They had floated about fourteen kilometres out to sea.

The emergency call was released with the family’s permission.

A senior officer who oversaw the operation said the family was in an “desperately dangerous position”.

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

“What the teenager did was nothing short of extraordinary. His bravery and courage in those conditions were remarkable, and his actions were instrumental in bringing about a successful outcome.”

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

When asked to describe the boards for the search crew, the teenager said: “They were green and white.”

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