'I have no life jacket on': 13-year-old boy swims 2.5 miles for hours to save family swept away at sea

Police said the teenager’s courage cannot be praised enough. (Image credit: Reuters)

• A 13-year-old boy swam 4 km to shore to save his family swept out to sea
• Austin Appelbee raised the alarm, leading to a helicopter rescue after 10 hours
• Police praised Austin's courage for saving his mother and two younger siblings

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A 13-year-old boy swam for hours through dangerous waters off Australia’s coast after his family was swept out to sea, saving his mother and two younger siblings.

According to the police, the Perth-based family were out on Kayaks and paddleboards on Friday morning when worsening sea and wind conditions swept them out, leading teenager Austin Appelbee to swim roughly 4 kilometres (2.5 miles) to reach shore and raise the alarm.

Teen swims to shore to raise alarm

“The waves are massive and I have no life jacket on. … I just kept thinking ‘just keep swimming, just keep swimming,’” Austin said Tuesday. “And then I finally I made it to shore and I hit the bottom of the beach and I just collapsed.”

Austin said he initially set out in an inflatable kayak while wearing a life jacket, but abandoned it when rough ocean conditions filled the vessel with water. Austin added that he removed the life jacket as it limited his swimming and focused on staying positive.

Helicopter locates family after hours at sea

Police said the family began their seaside outing before noon, Austin alerted authorities at 6 pm, and a helicopter found his mother, Joanne Appelbee, 47, his 12-year-old brother Beau and his 8-year-old sister Grace around 8:30 p.m.

The family was swept roughly 14 kilometres (9 miles) from Quindalup in Western Australia state and spent nearly 10 hours in the water.

“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,” Police Inspector James Bradley said.

Mother recalls the difficult decision

Speaking to reporters, Joanne Appelbee said she asked her eldest child to seek help because she could not leave her other children in the ocean.

“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,” she told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

She said she was initially confident he would make it to shore, but her confidence began to fade as the sun set and no help arrived.

“We kept positive, we were singing and we were joking and … we were treating it as a bit of a game until the sun started to go down and that’s when it was getting very choppy. Very big waves,” Joanne Appelbee said.

She added that by the time they were rescued, all three were shivering, and Beau had lost sensation in his legs due to the cold.

“I have three babies. All three made it. That was all that mattered,” she said.