Police in Western Australia have released the transcript of a call made by the son of an Irish woman who swam for four hours to rescue his family.
Joanne Appelbee, originally from Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan, but now living in Perth, went paddle boarding and kayaking off the coast recently with her three children, Austin (13), Beau (12) and Grace (eight).
Strong winds pushed their inflatable paddle boards and kayak further out to sea while they were enjoying a family holiday at Quindalup, which is 200kms south of Perth.
They lost their paddles and were drifting when Austin Appelbee offered to set off in the kayak for the shore to raise the alarm.
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His mother agreed as the shore looked close, but it was much further than either she or her son had realised.
His kayak capsized and he spent four hours in the water in his life jacket swimming against the current. He discarded his life jacket and swam for the shore. He then had to run two kilometres to find the nearest phone.
Fortunately, Austin had done swimming lessons which included water safety training.
The remaining Applebees were eventually rescued that evening. Their paddle-board was found about 14 kilometres offshore.
The transcript of the call, which was made at about 6pm that evening, was released with the permission of Austin’s parents.
It starts with Austin telling the operator that he thinks he has hypothermia: “I’m really, I’m extremely tired. I have heatstroke, and I feel like I’m about to pass out.
“We couldn’t get back to shore, and mum told me to go back to get help, and I haven’t seen them since, I think they’re kilometres out in sea. I think we need helicopters to go find them.
“I don’t know what their condition is right now, and I’m really scared.”
Despite the peril he was in, Austin Appelbee spoke in a clear and calm voice, which helped the emergency services to find the family two hours later.
Joanne Appelbee later told RTÉ’s Six One News she sent her oldest child for help because she could not leave the three children.
Appelbee said it was “one of the hardest decisions” she ever had to make to ask Austin to swim towards shore to raise the alarm.
She said she did not expect it to be “such a long and drawn-out process” but that “we are all here to tell the tale, so that is the main thing”.
Appelbee said she was “amazed” at her son’s bravery, but added: “I knew he could do it, he’s that kind of child.
“It was nothing short of a miracle that we made it,” she said.
“We had no food, no water, we were in plenty of water but we couldn’t drink that. We fell in [to the water] so many times, the waves were so high and those kids just kept holding on.
“We kept singing, we sang about Moana. We were looking for dolphins to see if that could help us back in and when it got dark, that’s when it really hit home, that we probably may not make it.”
Appelbee said seeing the rescue team was the “most fantastic feeling” and that she hopes to see her family and friends in Carrickmacross “very soon”.
The children’s grandmother has also spoken of her pride in Austin, his siblings and their mother.
Doreen Cunningham from Carrickmacross said she has not slept since Joanne left the hospital.
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