Australian Teenager Saves Family Stranded at Sea

When Australian 13-year-old Austin Appelbee and his family went to the beach, they expected a fun afternoon of beach games. What they didn’t expect was that that funday would turn into a life-or-death nightmare that would push Austin’s courage and resilience to its limit.

This unfortunate tragedy happened while the Appelbee family was touring near the coastal town of Quindelup. When it was almost noon, the family set out to sea. Austin and his mom, Joanne, took a kayak. The two younger children, Beau (age 12) and Grace (age 8), both took an inflatable paddleboard.

The waves were calm when the Appelbees first set sail. Then, strong winds quickly picked up and the waves became rough. Their kayak tipped over within a matter of minutes. Meanwhile, the waves were carrying Beau and Grace’s paddleboards away from the beach, with the two struggling to keep balance. Realizing the others were in danger, Joanne made the challenging decision to send Austin to shore for help.

Initially, Austin fought to keep the kayak afloat, but he soon realized that it couldn’t keep going for long. He dove into the water and started swimming for shore, fighting strong currents and waves. He realized his life jacket was slowing him down, so he took it off and kept swimming without it. Austin fought off strong currents and waves while swimming to shore. After around four hours and 2.5 miles (4 kilometers), Austin finally reached land.

His journey wasn’t over yet, though. Austin still had to run 1.2 miles (2 km) to his family’s housing to be able to contact emergency services. It was around 6pm at that time, and he passed out right after using his mom’s phone to call for help.

Meanwhile, the rest of the family was still drifting away at sea. The water began to get cold, and Joanne struggled to keep the children close to the kayak. They were starting to fear that Austin had not made it. At around 8:30pm, a rescue helicopter spotted them. The family was then brought safely back to shore. All four Appelbees were then treated for cold exposure, but none needed to be hospitalized. Rescuers then praised Austin’s bravery, saying his remarkable swim helped make the rescue possible. Though many have called him a hero, he continues to downplay his feat.

“I didn’t think I was a hero — I just did what I did,” Austin said.