Teenage hero swims four kilometres to rescue family stranded in ocean off WA coast

A mother and her two children have been rescued off the coast of a holiday hotspot in WA’s South West after her eldest child, who was swept out to sea with them, swam four kilometres back to shore in fading light to get help.

Joanne Appelbee and her children had been kayaking and paddleboarding off Quindalup in Geographe Bay on Friday morning when they were swept out to sea in rough conditions.

Speaking to media back home in Perth on Tuesday, Appelbee said the group had gone out for one last paddle and a bit of fishing, and the weather had seemed calm, before a board flipped, they lost an oar and their kayak began to take on water.

“I could see the danger in it, with getting dragged out a bit too far, and the waves kept coming and getting stronger,” Appelbee said.

“One of the hardest decisions I ever had to make was to say to Austin, try and get to shore and get some help. This could get really serious really quickly.”

Austin Appelbee, 13, began kayaking to shore to sound the alarm, but his kayak took on water.

It was at that point that he realised his only option was to swim four kilometres to land.

“I was fighting rough seas ... and then the kayak dumped me a million times, and then I was holding on to the kayak for so long, and thought I saw something in the water, and I was really scared,” he said.

“I just said, ‘Alright, not today, not today, not today. I have to keep on going.’

“I had the life jacket and the kayak for two hours, and then for the next two hours, I was just swimming with no life jacket.

“I just [thought], ‘Keep swimming, just keep swimming’.

“And then finally, I just made the shore, and I hit the bottom of the beach and I just collapsed.”

His ordeal wasn’t over yet. Austin then had to “sprint” another two kilometres to get to a phone to alert authorities.

A search was launched and Appelbee and Austin’s 12-year-old brother and eight-year-old sister were found at about 8.30pm clinging to a paddleboard about 14 kilometres offshore.

Appelbee said the waves got choppier as the night drew on, and after about 10 hours at sea, she worried there was no one coming to rescue them.

“It was pretty terrifying for a while, and I lost my glasses, so I definitely couldn’t see much, and I knew we were extremely far,” she said.

She had nothing but praise for Austin’s efforts – but never doubted he could do it.

“There’s no bigger word to describe him, other than proud ... I’m speechless at his efforts,” she said.

“But at the same time, I knew he could do it.”

The family escaped largely unscathed, but Austin spent much of the weekend recovering from the effort. Previously, the furthest he had swum was about 350 metres non-stop.

Quindalup is along the coast of Geographe Bay, between the popular holiday towns of Busselton and Dunsborough in Western Australia’s South West.

Austin’s bravery earned him high praise from WA Premier Roger Cook.

“It sounds like the most extraordinary effort from that young 13-year-old, who essentially undertook the rescue of his family, sister, a brother and mother, who, by the time sea rescue got to them, were 14 kilometres offshore,” he said.

“What an extraordinary thing to have done. This young fellow managed to swim for over four hours to get to shore to get help for his family. We are immensely proud of that.”

The bay is often calm and a popular destination for fishers and tourists, but WA Police South West District Inspector James Bradley said the rescue was a reminder that conditions could change rapidly.

“Thankfully, all three people were wearing lifejackets, which contributed to their survival,” he 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.”

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