MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A 13-year-old boy is credited with saving the lives of his mother and two younger siblings with an hours-long swim after the family was washed off the Australian coast.
Austin Appelbee swam 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) to shore to raise the alarm after getting into trouble Friday with his mother Joanne Appelbee, 47, brother Beau, 12, and sister Grace, 8, police said.
Austin said he initially left for help on an inflatable kayak that was taking on water. He abandoned the kayak then took off his life jacket because it hindered his swimming.
He said he tried to focus on positive thoughts as he swam for about four hours through rough seas to shore, raising the alarm at 6 pm.
“The waves are massive and I don’t have a life jacket on … I just kept thinking ‘just keep swimming, keep swimming,'” Austin said on Tuesday. “And then I finally made it to shore and I hit the bottom of the beach and I just fell.”
The family, from the state capital Perth, were on holiday and were using kayaks and paddle boards rented from their hotel around midday when rough ocean conditions and wind began to drag them out to sea.
A search helicopter found the mother and two children wearing life jackets and attached to a paddleboard at 8:30 pm, police said. They had left 14 kilometers (9 miles) from Quindalup in the state of Western Australia, after spending up to 10 hours in the water.
“The actions of the 13-year-old boy cannot be praised enough – his determination and courage ultimately saved the lives of his mother and siblings,” said Police Inspector James Bradley.
Joanne Appelbee told reporters on Tuesday that she sent her oldest child for help because she could not leave the three children.
“One of the hardest decisions I ever had to make was to say to Austin: “Try and get to shore and get some help. This can get really serious very quickly,” she told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
She said that she is confident that he will reach the shore but she was full of doubt as the sun set and help did not arrive.
“We stayed positive, we were singing and we were joking and… we were treating it as a bit of a game until the sun started to go down and that’s when it was getting very cloudy. Very big waves,” she said.
All three were shivering and Beau had lost feeling in his legs due to the cold by the time they were rescued, the mother said.
“I have three babies. All three made it. That was all that mattered,” she said.
All four family members were medically evaluated but none required hospitalization.