<
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/feb/03/boy-swims-four-hours-rescue-family-western-australia>
"A teenager has saved his mother and two younger siblings by making a four-hour
swim to raise the alarm despite fading light and rough conditions after the
family was swept out to sea in Western Australia.
The Appelbee family were on holiday in Quindalup, 200km (125 miles) south of
Perth, when strong winds pushed their inflatable paddleboards and kayak
offshore from Geographe Bay on Friday afternoon.
Joanne Appelbee, 47, asked her 13-year-old, Austin, to kayak back to shore to
get help, but his boat soon took on water, forcing him to swim 4km (2.5 miles)
back to land.
Speaking to Australia’s national broadcaster,
ABC, Austin described “fighting
rough seas” while attempting to swim wearing a lifejacket. He removed the
lifejacket after two hours to help him swim more efficiently.
“I thought I saw something in the water and I was really scared and I was just
thinking in my head [that] I was going to make it through,” he said.
“I was very puffed out, but I couldn’t feel how tired I was,” he said. “At one
point I was thinking of
Thomas the Tank Engine, trying to get the happiest
things in my head, trying to make it through. Not the bad things that would
distract me.
“I hit the bottom of the beach and I just collapsed, and then after that, I had
to sprint 2km to get to the phone.”
Austin called emergency services. “I said ‘I need helicopters, I need planes, I
need boats, my family’s out at sea.’ I was very calm about it. I think it was
just a lot of shock.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
