Teen swims for hours to save family swept out to sea
A 13-year-old boy saved the lives of his mother and two younger siblings after a 4km swim when the family was swept out to sea off the coast of Western Australia.
Police said Austin Appelbee swam 2.5 miles to shore to raise the alarm after difficulties with his mother Joanne Appelbee, 47, brother Beau, 12, and sister Grace, 8, on Friday.
Austin said he initially set out to seek help in an inflatable kayak that was taking on water. He abandoned the kayak and took off his life jacket because it was preventing him from swimming.
He said he tried to focus on positive thoughts as he swam towards shore in rough seas for about 4 hours.
“The waves are huge and I don’t have a life jacket on. … I kept thinking, ‘Keep swimming, keep swimming,'” Austin said Tuesday.
“And I finally made it to shore, hit the bottom of the beach and collapsed.”
The family from Perth were on holiday and were using canoes and paddle boards they had rented from their hotel around noon when severe ocean and wind conditions began to push them out to sea.
Police said a search helicopter found the mother and her two children wearing life jackets and clinging to a paddle board at 8.30pm local time. They were 14 km from Quindalup.
“The 13-year-old’s actions cannot be praised enough; his determination and bravery ultimately saved the lives of his mother and siblings,” Police Inspector James Bradley said.
Joanne Appelbee told reporters that she sent her oldest child to help because she couldn’t leave her three children.
“One of the hardest decisions I had to make was to tell Austin: ‘Try getting to shore and calling for help. This could get serious very quickly,'” he told the ABC.
He said he was confident he would reach shore, but as it was sunset and no help had arrived, he was filled with doubt.
“We stayed positive, we were singing, we were joking and … we treated it like a game until the sun started to set and then it started to get very choppy. Very big waves,” Ms. Appelbee said.
All three were shivering and when they were rescued Beau had lost feeling in his legs due to the cold, he said.
“I have three babies. All three made it. That’s all that matters,” she said.
All four family members were medically evaluated, but none required hospitalization.
