‘I don’t think I’m a hero’: the boy who swam ‘superhumanly’ for 4 hours to save his mother and brothers

Austin Appelbee, alongside his mother Joanne, told the BBC he was very scared BBC A 13-year-old Australian boy who swam for four hours to get help for his family after they were swept away at sea told the BBC: “I didn’t think I was a hero — I just did what I did.” ✅ Follow the g1 international news channel on WhatsApp Austin Appelbee didn’t know if his mother, Joanne, his brother, Beau, and his sister, Grace, were still alive when he finally reached the beach, four hours after leaving them in the water clinging to two stand-up paddle boards. Miles away from the west coast of Australia — with the waves getting bigger and daylight starting to fade — his mother feared he hadn’t survived either. It wasn’t until hours later, when Joanne finally spotted the rescue boat, that she knew he was alive. By this time, she and the children had already gone 14 km from the coast. See the videos that are trending on g1 What started as a family day at the beach ended in a 10-hour ordeal for Joanne and her family. Austin’s swim across to call for help was later described as “superhuman” by rescuers. “I assumed Austin hadn’t survived,” Joanne, 47, told BBC News. In the end, however, “it was a totally perfect ending, everyone was fine, happy and sore, but no injuries.” ‘An uphill battle’ The family was holidaying in Geographe Bay, Western Australia Getty Images via BBC The family were due to return on Friday last week to their home in Perth, but before that they were playing with two stand-up paddle boards and a kayak in the shallow part of the beach, Joanne explained, when the children “went a little too far”. “The wind picked up and the situation got worse,” she recalled. “We lost our oars and were swept further away… Everything went wrong very, very quickly.” As they found themselves drifting further and further from Quindalup Beach in Western Australia, Joanne realized she needed to do something, but she couldn’t leave 12-year-old Beau and eight-year-old Grace alone. Austin took the kayak to return to the beach in search of help, without realizing that the boat was damaged, with water entering it. “He [o caiaque] It started to capsize, and then I lost an oar and knew I was in danger,” he recalled. “I started paddling with my arm.” At one point, he managed to get the kayak going — before it capsized for the last time. Clinging to the overturned kayak, Austin — who swears he “saw something in the water” — realized he needed to do something. “The situation was getting dangerous — I had already been in the water for a few hours.” He had lost sight of his family, who also could no longer see him. According to Joanne and the children moved further out to sea, the waves got bigger and bigger, making it harder to stay on the boards, and the visibility also got worse. Everyone was wearing life jackets, but they had no food or water. “I assumed Austin had arrived much faster than he actually did,” she said. “If he couldn’t do it, what did I do? Did I make the wrong decision? And will someone come and save my other two children?” Austin Appelbee, 13, saved his family by swimming for hours to call for help Briana Shepherd/ABC via AP Austin, in turn, began swimming the last 2.5 miles, abandoning his own life jacket after a while because it wasn’t helping. For the next two hours, it was prayer, Christian songs and “happy thoughts” that kept the “very scared” 13-year-old steady. “I was thinking about my mom and Beau and Grace.” “I was also thinking about my friends and my girlfriend — I have a really good group of friends,” he said. “When I set foot on the beach, I thought: how am I on dry land now? Am I dreaming?” Then he had another thought: His family “might still be alive out there—I need to save them.” It was around 6pm local time when he finally found his mother’s bag and called for help. The call triggered a major search operation, police said in a statement on Monday (2). Austin — who had passed out after making the call — was taken to the hospital, where he called his father, crying profusely. He still didn’t know if Joanne and her brothers were alive. But minutes later, he received a call saying they had been found. Everyone—doctors and police—was jumping for joy. “It was a moment I’ll never forget,” Austin said. On the high seas, Joanne had difficulty holding her younger children. They were very cold and it was already dark. She feared the worst had happened to Austin. “We couldn’t see anything coming to save us,” she said. “We were getting to the point where we were completely alone.” Joanne couldn’t relax even when she saw the boat approaching: the children had fallen into the water and she was desperately trying to reach them. “It was a real nightmare,” she said. Austin Appelbee (right) poses with his brother, Beau, mother, Joanne, and sister, Grace Briana Shepherd/ABC via AP Back on dry land, they were treated at the hospital for minor injuries. The same paramedic who helped Austin was able to confirm — finally — that he too had survived. Austin has even returned to school — albeit on crutches, as his legs were very sore. Now, less than five days later, Austin is still trying to come to terms with what happened. He certainly doesn’t see himself as a hero, despite what people keep saying. It was, he acknowledged, an “uphill battle.” His praise is reserved for the “lovely ambulance staff” and the emergency service’s “really quick response.” Others, however, were effusive in their praise for Austin. Naturaliste Volunteer Sea Rescue Group commander Paul Bresland described the teenager’s efforts as “superhuman”. Officer James Bradley said his actions “cannot be praised enough — his determination and courage ended up saving the lives of his mother and brothers.” VIDEOS: most watched on g1

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