By Antonella Frausto —
An Australian 13-year-old swam four hour through rough seas to rescue his family swept seaward by adverse winds, and he’s crediting God with the Herculean feat.
“It was God the whole time,” said Austin Appelbee, 13, from Perth. “I kept on praying. I kept on praying. And I said to God, ‘I’ll get baptized. I’ll get baptized and all that. And I went to church on Sunday.’”
Austin was enjoying vacation at the beach with his mother Joanne, 47, his brother Beau, 12, and sister Grace, 8. The family was paddle-boarding and kayaking when winds whipped up and dragged them out to sea off the coast of Quindalup, in Geographe Bay.
As they were pulled miles offshore, the mother saw their dire predicament and made a fateful decision to ask Austin, an accomplished swimmer, to head to shore alone to get help. Ironically, Austin had failed a survival water skills class called Vac Swim.
But on Jan. 30 with the lives of his family at stake, Austin didn’t fail. After heading for shore on his kayak but making virtually no headway against the winds, he abandoned the kayak AND his life jacket and swam for shore. He varied breaststroke, freestyle and survival backstroke.
“I was thinking about all my friends at school and friends at my Christian youth,” Austin told 7NEWS Australia. “I just said, ‘All right, not today. Not today. Not today. I have to keep on going.’”
He swam an estimated four kilometers. It took him four hours. When he finally reached the shore, there was no one to ask for help, just foreigners with whom he could not communicate. So he ran another mile to the nearest hotel to call emergency services.
“I need helicopters. I need planes. I need boats,” he pleaded. “My family’s out at sea.”
Rescue crews found the family still alive, thanks to life vests, 14 kilometers from the shore at 8:30 p.m.
“The actions of the 13-year-old boy cannot be praised highly enough – his determination and courage ultimately saved the lives of his mother and siblings,” said Inspector James Bradley, of the South West District Office of the Water Police Coordination Centre of in North Fremantle.
Doctors said the strain of performing the supernatural swim was the equivalent of running two marathons. He was no doubt powered on by adrenaline in the life-threatening situation. He was given crutches for some time to allow his legs to recover from the extreme straine.
“I was very puffed out but I couldn’t feel how tired I was,” Austin said.
