Boy Saves Family at Sea

Austin Appelbee is a 13-year-old boy from Australia. He is being praised for saving the lives of his mother and two younger siblings. They drifted out to sea far away from the Australian coast.

Austin swam 4 kilometres to shore to get help after he got into difficulties with his mother, his 12-year-old brother and his 8-year-old sister on January 30, 2026.

The four of them had been kayaking when rough ocean and wind conditions started pulling them out to sea.

Austin said he first set off for help on his kayak, but when it started filling with water, he got out and started swimming. He also took off his life jacket so that he could swim better. He said he tried to focus on positive thoughts as he swam for around four hours through the rough seas. He added that he fell down onto the beach when he finally made it to shore. He then went to find help and raised the alarm at 6 pm.

A search helicopter found the mother and two children wearing life jackets at 8:30 pm, police said. They had drifted 14 kilometres from Quindalup in Western Australia, after spending up to 10 hours in the water.

"The actions of the 13-year-old boy cannot be praised highly enough—his determination and courage finally saved the lives of his mother and siblings," Police Inspector James Bradley said.

Austin's mother told reporters 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 could get really serious really quickly,'" she told Australian media.

She said she was confident he would reach shore but was filled with doubt as the sun set and help had not arrived.

They were all shivering by the time they were rescued, but none of the four family members required hospital admission.