Young Christian Hero Saves His Family

A 13-year-old Christian boy from Perth has revealed how he kept praying to God while swimming for four kilometres in rough seas notorious for sharks, to save his mother and younger siblings who were drifting far out to sea while clinging to hired inflatable paddleboards.

Austin Appelbee told 7 News how he fought massive waves and fear to swim back to land before running another two kilometres to retrieve his Mum’s mobile phone to raise the alarm.

He had been taking swimming lessons since he was four, but had never previously swum more than 350-metres at a time.

Austin is convinced his faith helped him during his marathon swim.

WHAT AUSTIN PRAYED DURING HIS HEROIC SWIM

“I don’t think it was me who did it, it was God the whole time,” he explained to 7 News.

“I kept praying and praying, I said to God ‘I’ll get baptised, I’ll get baptised’.”

The family had been holidaying at a beachfront resort along Geographe Bay near Dunsborough in Western Australia’s southwest, 250 kilometres from their Perth home.

Last Friday, they hired two inflatable stand-up paddleboards and a small kayak from their hotel for just two hours, not realising they’d spend the next 10 hours at sea.

HOW THE FAMILY’S NIGHTMARE BEGAN

The family got into trouble when the area’s normally calm waters suddenly turned choppy and their oars were swept away.

Strong winds and currents dragged them four kilometres out to sea, and with no boats in sight and panic setting in, Austin’s mother Joanne told him to take his kayak and try to get help.

The kayak kept getting overturned in the rough seas, prompting Austin to abandon the boat and start swimming.

After two hours of trying to reach shore, he ­realised the buoyancy of his lifejacket was preventing him from making much progress.

So he took off the jacket and spent the next two hours battling what he described as “massive waves” using freestyle, breaststroke and survival backstroke to reach the shore.

AUSTIN’S DETERMINATION TO REACH THE SHORE

“I just kept thinking ‘just keep swimming, just keep swimming,’” the teenager told 7News.

At one stage Austin said he thought he saw something like a shark in the water, but focused on keeping negative thoughts away.

“I was just thinking in my head that I was going to make it through.”

“I was also thinking of all my friends at school and friends at my Christian Youth.”

“I HAVE TO KEEP GOING AND GET THE HAPPIEST THINGS IN MY HEAD”

“I just said all right, not today, not today, not today. I have to keep going,” Austin recalled.

He was also buoyed by thoughts of his girlfriend, who had earlier given him some of her hair elastics.

“She gave me her lackeys and I was just looking at that the whole time,” he said.

“I think at one point I was thinking of Thomas the Tank Engine. You know, trying to get the happiest things in my head, and trying to make it through.”

YOUNG HERO THEN “SPRINTS” TWO KILOMETRES TO RAISE THE ALARM

After initially collapsing when he made it to shore, Austin said he then had to “sprint” two kilometres to find his mother’s phone which had been left on the beach.

He called triple-0 and raised the alarm.

“I said: ‘I need helicopters, I need planes, I need boats, my family’s out at sea’.“

It was 6pm and about to get dark.

AUSTIN PASSES OUT AMID FEARS FOR HIS MUM AND SIBLINGS

The teen passed out from exhaustion after making the call.

He was taken to hospital where he called his father in Perth, not knowing if his mum Joanne, brother Beau (12) and sister Grace (8) were still alive.

“I was bawling, I finally ­realised they were gone. I thought they were dead,” he confessed to 7 News.

Minutes later came the call to say they had been found. 

“Everyone – doctors and police officers – were jumping up and down with joy.”

“It was a moment I will never forget,” said Austin.

HIGH SEAS DRAMA FOR MOTHER AND CHILDREN

Amid the darkness, a helicopter using heat sensors had spotted the family and guided a boat to rescue them.

They were 14 kilometres out to sea.

Their rescue came just in the nick of time.

Only minutes before, Joanne had become separated from her youngest children as their paddleboards broke apart and they were rapidly drifting away from each other.

She was found first and moments later boat crews heard Beau calling out and pulled the children to safety.

MUM FEARED AUSTIN HAD NOT MADE IT.

Joanne Appelbee later told 7 News how she feared Austin had not made it back to shore.

As the sun went down, she began to worry about whether she had made the right decision to send Austin to get help.

“I would have never went as I would have had to leave the kids at sea, so I had to send somebody. ‘

“There was no boats, there was nothing we could get hold of,” she said.

“As it got darker, I thought ‘there’s no one coming to save us’.”

“We were cold, we were shaking. It was pretty terrifying for a while. And I lost my glasses, so I couldn’t see much.”

“THERE IS SOMETHING DEEPLY CHRISTIAN IN THIS STORY”

The family spent Friday night in hospital being treated for hypothermia and shock.

They had no injuries, although Austin said he had incredibly sore legs.

The Catholic news outlet Aleteia wrote: “There is something deeply Christian in this story — not because it is dramatic, but because it is ordinary faith carried into extraordinary circumstances.”

A STORY OF COURAGE, FAITH AND GOD’S PRESENCE

“Prayer here is not polished or performative; it is instinctive.”

“Songs are not sung for an audience, but to keep fear at bay.”

“Even the promise of baptism emerges not as a theological statement, but as a child’s honest reaching toward God in a moment of need.”

“This story reminds us of something quietly profound: that courage often looks like persistence, faith often sounds like a song half-remembered, and God’s presence is sometimes felt most clearly in the simple resolve to keep swimming — one stroke, one prayer, one hopeful thought at a time.”