Austin Appelbee: Teen’s anguish when he thought lifesaving four-hour swim was for nothing and family were dead

She swam an incredible 4 kilometers to shore, then ran 2 kilometers to get help, but burst into tears when she called her father to tell him it had taken too long and the rest of the family had died.

It took brave 13-year-old Austin Appelbee four hours to swim to the beach after he and his mother, brother and sister were swept into the ocean off Quindalup Beach, near Dunsborough.

“I called my dad and was screaming, and I finally realized they were gone. I thought they were dead,” he said.

“I didn’t know where or how they were and I thought they were dead.

“There was a huge feeling of guilt in my heart because I thought I wasn’t fast enough.”

Exhausted, emotional and grief-stricken, Austin got the biggest rush of his life when he was told that his brave effort had brought the ultimate reward: 12-year-old mother Joanne and 8-year-old Beau and Grace had been miraculously found alive.

It was 8.30pm at the end of the school holidays, and by then darkness had destroyed any hopes Austin had of rescuers finding his family alive.

They had all hit the water around 11am, looking to spend an hour or so splashing around before ending their holiday and heading towards Gidgegannup.

They were staying at Club Wyndham and had rented a canoe and two paddle boards there. Fortunately, they also wore life jackets.

Although conditions were initially calm, they gradually deteriorated until the family found themselves struggling to get back to shore.

While struggling with the worsening weather and strong current, they crashed into a paddle board, lost two oars, and the canoe began taking on water.

Despite rowing furiously for several hours, the four family members were unable to resist the relentless current and wave and were swept further out to sea.

That’s when Joanne made the painful decision to ask Austin to return to shore for help.

“One of the hardest decisions I had to make was to tell Austin, ‘Try to get to shore to get help,’ because it was getting serious really quickly,” the 47-year-old actor said.

It was early afternoon, and Austin took the canoe, leaving his mother, brother, and sisters clinging to their plastic paddle boards.

However, the canoe continued to take on water and roll over.

“I knew it was going to be a long ride, but the canoe kept taking on water,” Austin said.

“I was struggling in rough seas, the kayak threw me into the water a million times, I thought I saw something in the water and I was really scared but I just thought I was going to make it.”

After about two hours, he decided to ditch the canoe and soon took off his life jacket.

For the next two hours, Austin alternated between survival backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle, doing his best to keep his mind occupied with happy thoughts.

“I was thinking about all my friends at school and my Christian Youth friends and I said, ‘Not today,'” he said.

“At one point I was thinking about Thomas the Tank Engine, just trying to conjure up the happiest things in my head.

“I have a girlfriend and I was thinking about her all the time. She gave me the hair butlers and I was just staring at her the whole time.”

Finally, Austin managed to reach shore near Toby’s Inlet, 2 km upstream from where they had set out.

His legs “collapsed” when he touched solid ground but he quickly got back into action and around 6pm he ran back to the hotel to call Triple-0 using his mother’s phone.

“I said, ‘I need helicopters, I need planes, I need boats. My family is at sea.’ I think it was a big shock,” said Austin, who hadn’t eaten at all that day.

By now Joanne, Beau and Grace had drifted 14 km out to sea.

Joanne admits she almost lost hope.

“As it got darker, I thought, ‘There’s no one coming to save us,'” he said.

“We were cold and shivering and it was pretty scary for a while, then I lost my glasses and couldn’t see.”

He had entertained his two young children by singing and telling jokes, but now his spirits were sinking.

Then Joanne spotted a rescue boat and they boarded safely, despite the huge wave briefly separating them.

Joanne, Beau and Grace were even happier to see that Austin survived too.

“We were extremely proud,” said Joanne. “I’m speechless… to last this long, she’s absolutely gorgeous.”

Cheeky but proud Beau was also happy to chime in.

“I’m so proud of him. Normally he struggles to walk 350 metres, so nearly 4 kilometers is impressive and as a little brother I couldn’t be more proud of him,” she said.

Austin was in shock at the news of his rescue, which came about five minutes after he made a tearful call to his father.

The brave young man said, “I thought it was fake. I didn’t believe it. I was really happy, but I couldn’t digest it.”

The family was able to avoid injuries as well as blistering, swelling, and muscle pain.

And Austin became the school’s toast on Monday when he shared his incredible story of survival while in pain in a wheelchair and on crutches.

Incredibly, his father revealed that Austin had failed his swimming lessons over the holiday.