At just 13 years old, Austin made a decision no child should ever have to make—and followed through.
After his family was swept out to sea while kayaking off the coast of Western Australia, Austin swam four kilometers (2.5 miles) through rough ocean conditions, spending nearly four hours in the water, to reach shore and raise the alarm that ultimately saved their lives.
His mother, Joanne, along with his younger siblings Beau and Grace, were stranded at sea for more than eight hours before emergency services were able to rescue them.
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What began as a calm afternoon paddle quickly changed. The family had gone out for one last short kayak along the bay when conditions shifted. Paddleboards flipped. Oars were lost. Waves picked up. The current began dragging them farther from shore.
Joanne tried repeatedly to retrieve Austin and pull the boards back in, but each attempt ended in another capsize. When Beau paddled out in a small kayak to help tow them, the kayak quickly began filling with water, forcing them to abandon that effort as well.
With no boats nearby and daylight fading, Joanne faced what she later described as one of the hardest decisions of her life.
She sent Austin to shore alone to get help.
“Everything goes through your head as a mum,” Joanne said. “Did I make the wrong decision by sending him?”
As Austin disappeared into the distance, Joanne, Beau, and Grace stayed together in the water, trying to remain calm. They sang, joked, and reassured one another—but as the sun went down and the waves grew stronger, fear set in.
“I thought no one was coming,” Joanne admitted. “I thought this was it.”
Meanwhile, Austin was still fighting his way toward land.
He was pushed farther out by waves, lost control of his kayak as it took on water, and was eventually forced to let it go. He tried swimming while tethered to his life jacket, then without it, switching between breaststroke, freestyle, and survival backstroke as exhaustion set in.
“I just kept saying, ‘Not today. Not today,’” Austin recalled.
Alone in the water, he focused on anything that would keep him going—his friends, school, his youth group, even childhood memories. At one point, he said he thought about Thomas the Tank Engine, anything to keep fear from taking over.
Eventually, Austin reached shore and collapsed onto the sand.
But he wasn’t done.
He then ran roughly two kilometers to find a phone and called emergency services. Despite being in shock, he stayed calm, telling operators he needed helicopters, boats, and planes—his family was still out at sea.
“I thought they were dead,” Austin later said. “I felt guilt. I thought I wasn’t fast enough.”
Emergency crews launched a search and eventually located and rescued Joanne, Beau, and Grace, bringing the family safely back to shore.
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Reflecting on what her son did, Joanne didn’t hesitate.
“There’s no bigger word than proud,” she said. “Austin saved our lives.”
The story was first reported by 7NEWS Australia.
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