It happened in Australia and is surprising the whole world
Austin Applebee, a 13-year-old boy who was swept away by the sea with his mother and two brothers, saved his family after swimming four kilometers to shore to call for help. He did so “under difficult conditions”, emphasizes the Australian police.
The family was kayaking and paddleboarding off the coast of Quindalup, Western Australia, on Friday afternoon when they were swept away by the sea, explains the Western Australian Police Force, in a statement posted on Facebook on Monday.
After his family was swept away, Austin Applebee “decided to return to shore as the light was fading” and paddled his kayak a short distance before it began taking on water. Austin Applebee had to swim back and ended up alerting authorities around 6 p.m. local time, police say.
Austin Applebee (right) photographed with his family ABC/AP photo
A search and rescue operation was then launched. A 47-year-old woman, a 12-year-old boy and an eight-year-old girl were “located by the rescue helicopter, they were clinging to a paddle board”, according to the statement.
“A volunteer maritime rescue vessel was directed to the family’s location and the three people were successfully rescued and returned to shore,” explains the police.
The boy, Austin Appelbee, told CNN affiliate 9News that thinking about his family drove him.
“I just said ‘okay, not today, not today, not today’,” he says. “I had to keep going.”
“The waves were huge. I did breaststroke, I did freestyle, I did survival backstroke”, explains Austin Applebee.
“I reached the bottom of the beach and just collapsed. After that I had to run two kilometers to get to the phone”, he adds.
The boy’s feat was a “superhuman effort”, says Marine Rescue commander Paul Bresland to 9News.
“Two hours without a life jacket and, yes, he made it”, highlights Paul Bresland.
Austin’s mother, Joanne Appelbee, reveals that all of her children swam from a young age.
“I am speechless at my son’s efforts but, at the same time, I knew he could do it,” he tells 9News.
Marine Rescue Busselton says, all in all, it resulted in “an excellent result” – this is a statement made in a separate statement published on Facebook on Saturday.
“Fantastic effort from everyone involved in difficult conditions”, says the statement.
“Please be aware of the strong offshore winds that may occur at this time of year”, warns the same statement.
