A 13-year-old boy has been hailed as a hero after swimming for four hours to raise the alarm when his family was swept out to sea off Australia's south-west coast. Austin Appelbee swam 4km (2.5 miles) to shore after he, his mother Joanne, 47, brother Beau, 12, and sister Grace, 8, got into difficulties at Geographe Bay on Friday.
The family had been using inflatable paddle boards and a kayak when strong winds pushed them offshore. Austin initially tried to paddle back in his kayak, but it began taking on water. He abandoned the vessel, removed his life jacket, and swam the remaining distance, eventually reaching land and alerting authorities at 6pm.
Austin said he focused on positive thoughts during the swim in rough seas. 'The waves are massive and I have no life jacket on. I just kept thinking "just keep swimming, just keep swimming",' he said. 'And then I finally made it to shore and I hit the bottom of the beach and I just collapsed.'
His mother told the Australian Broadcasting Corp that sending her eldest child for help was one of the hardest decisions she had ever made. 'We kept positive, we were singing and we were joking... until the sun started to go down and that's when it was getting very choppy,' she said.
Austin's actions triggered a large search-and-rescue operation involving Western Australia Water Police, volunteer marine rescue crews, and a rescue helicopter. The Naturaliste Volunteer Marine Rescue Group praised the boy's 'superhuman' effort, with commander Paul Bresland noting that Austin swam the first two hours with a life jacket and the next two without. The boy also provided a detailed description of the kayak and paddle boards, which helped rescuers locate the family.
At about 8.30pm, the rescue helicopter found the family clinging to a paddle board roughly 14km offshore. They were rescued after spending up to 10 hours in the water. Police inspector James Bradley said: 'The actions of the 13-year-old boy cannot be praised highly enough – his determination and courage ultimately saved the lives of his mother and siblings.'
