By James Sutherland on SwimSwam
A thirteen-year-old Australian boy is being heralded as a hero after swimming for hours to get help for his family after they were swept out to sea.
Austin Applebee swam roughly four kilometers to get help after he, along with his mother, Joanne Applebee, 47, brother Beau, 12, and sister Grace, 8, were swept away from shore while kayaking and paddleboarding on Friday, Jan. 30.
The family, from the Western Australia state capital of Perth, was vacationing near Quindalup when the four of them started being dragged out by strong seas just after 12 pm.
While the four of them were battling the elements, clinging to plastic paddleboards and kayaks, Joanne made the difficult decision to tell Austin to try to get to shore to get help, realizing that he was their only hope.
“One of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make was to say to Austin, ‘try and get to shore to get some help, because it was getting serious really quickly,” Joanne said, according to The West Australian.
Austin initially set off for help on an inflatable kayak, but abandoned it after it started taking on water, and then later took off his lifejacket because it was impeding his attempt to swim.
He swam for approximately four hours, focusing on prayer, Christian songs and “happy thoughts” to keep him going, before getting to shore around 6 p.m.
“The waves are massive, and I have no life jacket on. … I just kept thinking, just keep swimming, just keep swimming,” Austin said, according to the Associated Press. “And then finally I made it to shore and I hit the bottom of the beach and I just collapsed.”
Austin managed to find his mother’s bag and call the police on her cell phone before passing out due to exhaustion.
A search helicopter found Joanne, Beau, and Grace around 8:40 p.m., police said. They drifted 14 kilometers from Quindalup after spending up to 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,” Insp. James Bradley said.
Just minutes before the rescue, a big wave had separated the three of them.
“I could only hear Grace screaming. I couldn’t hear Beau, and that scared me,” Joanne said. “When the boat came and picked me up, I screamed that there was two kids in the water.
“I called out for Grace and I could hear her, and then all of a sudden I heard this other voice (Beau). We picked them up and it was the best feeling in the world.”
Austin was taken to hospital, where he called his father, before soon finding out his mother and two siblings had been found and were safe.
“It was a moment I will never forget,” he said.
All four were medically assessed, but none required anything more than treatment for minor injuries.
Austin has even gone back to school since the incident, showing up on Monday in a wheelchair due to leg pain before swapping it for crutches.
The family has expressed their gratitude to the emergency crews that saved them, including the Water Police Coordination Centre in North Fremantle, South West police, local marine rescue groups and the RAC Rescue helicopter.
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