‘We Need a Chopper to Locate Them’: Adolescent’s Urgent Plea to Aid Loved Ones Stranded Off Aussie Coast Revealed

“We got lost out there,” young Austin Appelbee explains to the triple-zero dispatcher, following a swim 4km in treacherous, the sea and running two kilometres to secure help for his kin.

The call taker inquires how much time has gone by since he started out.

“[It] was quite some time back … I think they’re far offshore. I think we must get a helicopter to go find them,” he states.

Authorities have disclosed the distress call made previously after the youth left his relatives floating at sea off the West Australian coast to seek assistance.

His voice remains clear and calm, even as he details his worry for his family.

“I have no idea about what their condition is right now, and I’m extremely frightened,” he tells the operator.

“Mum said to find rescue … We were in massive trouble.”

The Harrowing Ordeal

The holidaymakers had been carried 2.5 miles out to sea in rough conditions while enjoying water sports.

His parent instructed him to set out and get assistance, so the youth began, abandoning first his waterlogged vessel then his cumbersome lifejacket to swim the distance.

After reaching land – following a four-hour swim – he raced for two kilometres 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 states the operator.

“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 a dangerously low body temperature … I’m really, I’m extremely tired. I have sunstroke, and I feel like I’m about to pass out.”

A Vacation Gone Wrong

The holidaymakers was on holiday in Quindalup, 125 miles south of Perth. They set off from Geographe Bay following 10am on a Friday in late January.

The parent later recalled that they were enjoying themselves when the young ones “drifted further than intended”. The conditions worsened, they lost their oars, and started drifting.

“It kind of all went wrong very, very quickly,” she said.

The parent also described 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 was able to manage it,” she commented.

The Search Operation

The youth described being “completely out of breath”.

“I just pressed on, I do the breaststroke, I do freestyle, I do survival backstroke,” he explained.

The distress call was made at about 6pm.

At about 8.30pm, many hours after they first began, the stranded individuals were spotted and rescued. They had floated about fourteen kilometres out to sea.

The emergency call was shared with the mother’s permission.

A police sergeant who oversaw the operation said the group was in an “incredibly perilous state”.

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

“What the boy did was truly remarkable. His fortitude and resolve in those conditions were exceptional, and his actions were pivotal in bringing about a positive result.”

The officer also praised how the youth calmly conveyed key facts.

When asked to describe the paddleboards for the authorities, the boy replied: “They were green and white.”

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