r/BeAmazed • u/Electronic-Bus-3494 • 19d ago
Miscellaneous / Others A 13-year-old boy swam 4 kilometers through rough ocean for four hours after his mother and two siblings were swept out to sea near Dunsborough, Western Australia. He ran 2 kilometers barefoot to call for help. Rescuers found them clinging to paddleboards 14 km offshore after 10 hours.
Austin Appelbee was 13. His mother Joanne and two younger siblings were swept out to sea. He tried a kayak first, but it started filling with water, so he abandoned it and swam. Alone. Through choppy water. As daylight faded. Four kilometers. Nearly four hours.
He reached shore, ran another two kilometers barefoot to their accommodation, and used his mother's phone to call for help. A major marine rescue operation launched. Rescuers later found Joanne and the two younger children clinging to paddleboards about 14 kilometers offshore. They had been drifting for nearly 10 hours.
Authorities credited Austin's actions with bringing rescuers to them. A 13-year-old with nothing but willpower and bare feet.
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u/Mission-Sound9493 19d ago
We really should be amazed considering his Father later revealed that the kid that failed his school swimming certification a few weeks before this event because he struggled to swim 350m consecutively. He clearly pushed himself to the absolute limit to save his family.
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u/blocodents 19d ago
Bruh 4 kilometers in rough seas is WAY BEYOND pushing his limits. It's even way beyond mom who lifts car to save child. It's absolutely insane for an average person. Let alone for an untrained child.
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u/KinkyStinkyPink- 19d ago
If It wasnt documented, I wouldn't believe it. It would just seem like a crazy story you'd hear from your local drunk.
"When i was a kid, i got stranded 4 km away from shore in choppy waters with my family. I was their only hope. I spent hours swimming back, then ran another 2km to find help."
Like WHAT?!? The pure determination is insane
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u/LocoDesignIdeas 19d ago
Agreed
Been doing sports all my life , I'd say right under the "I'm gonna do a triathlon" level -- no way would I make 4 km in rough seas. And I know that because I had 2 swimm 1km in a pool for a sport test and I was Cooooooked.I also couldn't believe it if there wasn't some record
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u/polishmachine88 19d ago
The 4km is just a tad over Ironman swim distance funny since you mentioned triathlon.
As someone that have finished few Ironmans...the biggest challenges to the untrained is visibility and breathing in wavy waters.
If you are just ok swimmer and can float you can stop and catch a breath but it's really exhausting when you can't see shit.
What is the absolutely most impressive he was able to lock in on a land mark and swim towards that....at 13 that is incredibly impressive.
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u/reggieiscrap 19d ago
This kid should absolutely get an honorary ironman.. in fact TWO !! With thr current Australian iron Man champion placing it around his neck..
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u/Inveramsay 19d ago
The most I've ever swam in the sea was about 500m and even with minimal waves it was rough going. I've never had the technique for really efficient swimming and it sounds like this kid didn't either so I'm incredibly impressed
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u/Hara-Kiri 19d ago
At least he now has a news story he can bring up on his phone. Imagine telling that story 20 years ago, or even before records were verifiable in any way.
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u/X_MswmSwmsW_X 19d ago
Not only that, but it's the best get out of jail free card that any kid ever got.
" Oh, now you're mad at me?!? Well when did you swim 4 km to save my life, huh Mom?"
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u/SkySpecial4512 19d ago
That kid could develop a heroin habit or start having orgies in the family room from here, he’s still the family hero
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u/Yardsale420 19d ago
That’s exactly why the Guinness Book of World Records started. Too many bar fights because two drunks were arguing about the biggest or longest “something”.
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u/NeverHideOnBush 19d ago
They should make a race in his name.. swimming and running like he did
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u/Capitan_Typo 19d ago
People often don't know something is 'impossible' until someone else tells them.
And in this case, he just kept going because his family needed him.
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u/Dockers4flag2035orB4 19d ago
In the phone call to the emergency services, he admitted he was pretty tired.
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u/ZedsDeadZD 19d ago
The fact that he was able to talk after that. Id be so fucking out of breath from 10% of what he did. His body was just held together by adrenaline.
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u/jjcrayfish 19d ago
Hopefully the school gives him his certificate after this
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u/Rhomya 19d ago
I struggled swimming 50 feet in choppy seas, let alone rough seas.
4k feels like an Act of God.
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u/M1sterBigShot 19d ago
Ok but you didn’t have the information that your mom and siblings just got swept out to sea, and that their survival LITERALLY HINGED on you getting help.
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u/NotAzakanAtAll 19d ago
On top of the life or death levels of adrenaline, He just must be built different to manage that epic feat.
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u/ambushka 19d ago
Lol I am preparing for a 70.3 IM and I don't know how I will swim 1900metres.
Boy is a legend
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u/Dismal-Past7785 19d ago
Imagine being the mother that had to ask him to do this, knowing he had just failed his swim certification.
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u/JustaTinyDude 19d ago
TBF, he left in a kayak. She didn't know it was going to fill with water and that he'd have to swim it.
Your point still stands, though. This whole incident is harrowing.
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u/ShopEmpress 19d ago
Right? I'm not sure I understand why she put it on him knowing he wasn't a strong swimmer, she could have asked him to take care of the younger kids and gone herself?
Edited to say I know it would be horrifying to leave your kids behind, and stress and adrenaline make brains do weird things too.
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u/aiydee 19d ago
Imagine the muscle burn the next day. That kid would feel like his muscles were in a furnace or something.
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u/DefinitelyNotAliens 19d ago
He's on crutches due to muscle damage. Those arm crutches weren't used before this event. He's lucky he didn't get rhabdomyolysis.
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u/ThatInAHat 19d ago
The barefoot is nothing. He ran on sand. I don’t know how he did it, but no wonder he messed his legs up, poor kid
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u/CaptainObviousBear 19d ago
I didn’t know about the certification bit, but I did read that even though he might not have been the best swimmer, he had been trained in how to do the survival versions of backstroke and breaststroke which helped him conserve energy for the long swim.
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u/Mission-Sound9493 19d ago
That's a good shout from the school/swimming teacher tbh (although I doubt they thought it would be put into practice quite so soon from one of the students!).
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u/ImJustHere4TheCatz 19d ago
Yes and Mom said that he'd grown up in the ocean, they were always doing ocean sports together as a family
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u/Little_Mog 19d ago edited 19d ago
I couldn't swim until someone pushed me off a 30m pier. It's nowhere near what this kid did but adrenaline and the fear of drowning can take you far. Took me the best part of 5 minutes to get to shore and the entire time I was convinced I was going under the whole time
ETA: Friend was a lifeguard and knew i was panicking and not drowning, it was his way of showing me I could save myself so jumping off with friends was safe
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u/slenderchamp 19d ago
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u/StormtrooperMJS 19d ago
They killed 17 kids trying to get this scene done. /s
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u/Spectrum1523 19d ago
lol that's an absolutely thing for a lifeguard to do
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u/discostupid 19d ago
One of the lifeguard things of all time
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u/ThepalehorseRiderr 19d ago
Swimming is an odd activity. Sometimes you do it for fun. Sometimes you do it to not die.
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u/HannsGruber 19d ago
My first ever memory of "swimming" was at a YMCA. I was in the line and the guards were asking each kid to jump in and demonstrate a swim, the doggy paddle I can remember now, to show they could at least tread water.
fuck if I knew what that was, but I was far enough back in the line to watch each kid ahead of me. Its my turn, I jump in, do exactly what I saw, and sure as shit, I tread water and got a pass lol. I couldn't put an age on the memory, but low single digits.
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u/nekonight 19d ago
Showing someone what to do is often the best. Also showing someone what not to do. The best example i have as a swim instructor is teaching kids diving off the edge of a pool. Often they will just belly flop into the water and most of the time its because they are trying to keep their head up to look at where they are going. Showing them the difference of keeping their head up and down is usually gets the point across, unless they are scared of the water.
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u/grimacedia 19d ago
My uncle tried to do that when I was a kid, I sank like a stone! Managed to grab onto someone already under water (they did not appreciate that but I was small at least).
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u/Little_Mog 19d ago
I was like, 15. My dad tried it when I was about 3 and it ended up with him bribing me with a McDonald's breakfast to not tell my mam. I got 2 pancakes, 2 hash browns and a slice of bacon and didn't tell my mam until I was 16
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u/AJRimmer1971 19d ago
What is also amazing is that Dunsborough is one of the thoroughfares for very very big white sharks.
I'm sure that this would have been in his mind, too.
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u/Yoshi9105 19d ago
I know fear and adrenaline do ridiculous and amazing things but I am surprised and impressed that him failing his swim test a few weeks before didn't stop him. that doubt or lack of confidence could have easily got to him if he'd stayed in his head. thankfully instinct took over.
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u/porcelina-g 19d ago
I watched this interview, and you could tell the kid was extremely traumatized by the event and it was way too soon for him to be talking about it.
He didn’t pull this off because he was an elite athlete. It was fear and adrenaline, a fucking lot of it. He kept trailing off like he had just seen combat. It was very hard to watch.
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u/Pandonia42 19d ago
For sure.. he's THIRTEEN and his entire family and himself dies if he can't do what he couldn't do the week prior (the swim certificate people are talking about). I can't imagine swimming that far with those stakes
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u/ashgs872tbhjs 19d ago
To be extra clear, the week before he couldn't do the equivalent of a brisk walk around the block and then he had to run a marathon without any breaks or support. The jump in difficulty was VAST. Little dude is beyond incredible
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u/ThatInAHat 19d ago
Explains the crutches. He pushed himself past what his body was safely capable of out of sheer desperation. Poor kid.
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u/ohmarlasinger 18d ago
Less desperation, more so survival instinct beyond his own understanding. Our bodies will destroy itself to stay alive. The body’s will to live fueled by the biggest dump of adrenaline that kid’s body will ever experience in his life was at the helm.
You’re spot on that the crutches are the result of his body taking over. The thousand yard stare is the result of the absolute full emptying of even all the reserves of pure adrenaline. The release of a big dump of the fun chemicals - dopamine, adrenaline, serotonin - leaves you in a huge deficit which feels like a sudden fall into a deep depression. You build it back up though so while the trauma will always be there, hopefully the hollowness filled back up a bit & he didn’t get numbed out long term.
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u/RubiiJee 19d ago
Fucking hell. Putting it in such simple words shows how brutal that experience was. Poor kid, and poor mother. What an all round horrific event. I'm so glad they survived. A nice positive feeling for a Monday morning.
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u/cat_prophecy 19d ago
I can't imagine swimming that far with those stakes
That's the thing about situations like this: it's not something you ever imagine yourself in. When the stakes are "do it or everyone you love dies" people, even kids, can go pretty fucking hard.
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u/Yoshi9105 19d ago
honestly I know fear and adrenaline do ridiculous and amazing things but I am surprised and impressed that him failing his swim test the week before didn't stop him. like that doubt or lack of confidence could have easily got to him if he'd stayed in his head. thankfully instinct took over.
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u/laughingnome2 19d ago
PTSD is brutal. I hope the entire family is getting the help they need because damn. Super effort but the mental toll is a lot.
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u/LocoCoopermar 19d ago
Yeah I haven't dealt with anything near this, but I know that finding out that you're mentally way tougher than you thought doesn't feel very great in the moment. You don't usually get there by choice, it's thrown at you and you gotta survive that sheer white knuckle panic until you can make it out the other side
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u/saturnspritr 19d ago
Yeah. And when you revisit whatever the incident was, for me it was being lost in a snowstorm for hours. I went through nearly every stage of hypothermia and if I hadn’t had some basic survival knowledge and honestly reading a Jack London short story about the exact situation, I don’t know if I would’ve survived.
I think about it at different times and get completely different reactions or knowledge from it. It shapes you inside. I rarely talk about it at all. But, it’s been decades and I’ve never forgotten about it, in detail. It doesn’t really fade like other memories at all.
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u/johnny-Low-Five 19d ago
I think I read that book in ~4th grade? I could be mixing up several books into one but did the Main Character have a dog with him?
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u/saturnspritr 19d ago
Jack London’s short story “To Build a Fire”. I think I was in 4th grade as well. He does have a dog, but most Jack London stuff does.
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u/cmlambert89 18d ago
Ugh I think I saw a short film of this story in school. To this day I feel traumatized and I didn’t even experience it!!
There’s a scene where he goes to light a fire and his fingers are too cold to manipulate a single match, so he just takes the entire bundle of matches and tries to light the fire by swiping them all at once.. only the light doesn’t catch and they all go out and now he has no matches and realizes how fcked he is…
I think he just sits down and goes to sleep and his dog is running around barking. Jack London made me want to never go to the snowy wilderness ever.
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u/DroidLord 19d ago
Trauma is much more horrible when it happens to a child. It will quite literally shape the rest of their life.
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u/smedley89 19d ago
10 years later, his girlfriend wants to go to the beach.
This kid - Nah.
I wouldnt blame him if he never wanted a bath instead of a shower again.
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u/LocoCoopermar 19d ago
While he can maybe look back on this later with some pride, this is almost definitely the worst experience of his life by miles and the entire world knowing about it and patting you on the back has to make it extra confusing. Feel like it's a similar vibe to people who have seen combat, most of them aren't thinking in the moment about being heros, they're most likely sure they're going to die and are just trying to save themselves and their friends then are a hero for some reason
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u/AnvilEdifice 19d ago
Yep, if he doesn't get the support he needs this event will haunt him for the rest of his life.
People are often too preoccupied telling first responders and rescuers how brave they are without asking them how they're doing after an extraordinarily traumatic event.
Good luck, Austin.
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u/Inevitable-Level-687 19d ago
I have a colleague studying paramedicine. They last an average of two and a half years in the job.
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u/Red_AtNight 19d ago
I had a coworker get killed 3 years ago - he was inspecting a manhole in a park, and an out of control driver went over the sidewalk and ran him over before crashing into a tree. He likely didn’t suffer much, if there’s a bright spot… but several of the first responders had to take time off work for PTSD afterwards and one of them didn’t even come back to work
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u/johnny-Low-Five 19d ago
The only comparison I have is 9/11. My father was a first responder, there for days/weeks and in the following 6 years, he died from cancer from being at ground zero, he never talked about it with my mother, me or my 4 younger siblings. He stayed with my Mom's sister for a couple weeks? (It's all a bit fuzzy tbh) and she had twins that were around 1 and she said he would just sit in a chair and hold the babies until he was ready to fall asleep.
To this day it bothers me immensely that I didn't realize how damaging it all must have been but he was raised to believe "Men don't cry, show weakness" and all that crap and I don't think he even knew how.
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u/Chronocidal-Orange 19d ago
Yeah my first thought was how traumatizing that must have been. 6 km of stress and adrenaline, wondering if you just lost most of your family and if it's already too late, but still pushing forward. God, I hope he gets the help he needs.
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u/likeafuckingninja 19d ago
I really felt they shouldn't have been interviewing him, or any of them, so soon after.
They kept asking him questions and his mum was like ,go on' and this poor kid just had this dead thousand mile stare that was like 'please just let me lay down'
It felt strangely exploitative, like getting the story asap was way more important to everyone involved than letting a kid process an extremely traumatic event.
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u/Deadsoup77 19d ago
Poor dude. Imagine finding yourself mentally back in those waves at such a young age. Hopefully he gets consistent mental health support through his adolescence
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u/thelionsmouth 19d ago
Yeah I couldn’t imagine being that age and having my mom tell me if I fail they die
That’d be hours of mental and physical torture that wouldn’t go away easy
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u/geniebythesea 19d ago
Thank you for your perspective. I think we all need to be a bit more conscious of the fact that these are real people (in this case a child!) and they are NOT entertainment. I hope whoever decided to interview them had a certain change of heart after putting them through the interview.
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u/Routine_Bluejay4678 19d ago
Yeah watching it originally on TV felt wrong, he’s clearly not okay. Hope he’s doing a lot better now.
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u/Not-TheNSA 19d ago
As a former Search and Rescue Med Tech with a background in water rescue I can tell you there is a HUGE difference between swimming 4km in a pool and 4km in open water, especially if it’s rough seas. Even with a life jacket this is a feat! Open water swims are a whole different animal and currents can suck the energy right out of you in no time at all. This kid has an absolutely insane amount of mental fortitude. This takes a mentality of “I will succeed or I will die trying”. I’ve done my fair share of physically demanding rescues, including open water rescue swims in rough seas, I had fins and was in peak physical condition and they still kicked my ass. This kid is an absolute stone-cold badass.
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u/Enlightened_Gardener 19d ago
I’m a local and we’re all in awe of this kid. He’d failed his swim certificate for a 350m swim !
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u/LucifersAdv0cate 19d ago
Is there much risk of sharks in that area? I thought western Australia had a lot of them.
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u/hippodribble 19d ago
No risk. Absolute certainty.
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u/Competitive-Basil958 19d ago
Aww man, my comprehension is shit. So yes there is sharks? Or you are certain there is no risk in that area.
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u/minimuscleR 19d ago
there are not that many shark attacks. Its the riskiest place in Australia still, but the chances are very low especially in rougher weather where the sharks are unlikely to come closer to shore.
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u/AgsSpecGolfSwing 19d ago
Absolutely fuck swimming in open ocean in the waters of WA ive surfed the entire coast line of Australia, and WA is by far the scariest
Constant whale carcasses wash ashore in WA aswell
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u/AgsSpecGolfSwing 19d ago
Bro WA open ocean is literally jam packed with sharks there are constant shark attacks along the WA coast line
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u/Enlightened_Gardener 19d ago
You’re still more likely to be killed by a cow than by a shark in Australia.
But yes, there are also lots of sharks.
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u/Jackoby_Jones 19d ago
In Australia overall, yes. But when you’re 4km out to sea I’d say the shark becomes more likely than the cow.
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u/mt9943 19d ago
You must be forgetting all about those dangerous Dugongs that lurk the waters
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u/moogiewoog 19d ago
I almost drowned in New Zealand ~8yrs back when my friend and I went surfing (first time) with our hostel. The instructor wasn't keeping an eye on us, and suddenly we were extremely far from the shore.
My friend got to shore before me, and bc I hadn't learned how to sit on the surfboard in this situation, the waves kept sweeping me up and pulling me under and further away. Was terrifying and fucking exhausting.
Reached a point for a moment while under the water, where I just gave in and accepted I was gonna die and it felt so damn good. Then got pulled to the surface by the board (thank fuck), heard my friend screaming for me, and started fighting again. We were puking and crying for an hour afterwards and I prob wasn't even out there for more than ten minutes.
Can't even imagine how this kid did this. What a good little dude. I hope he wasn't too horribly scarred by it and is living his best life!
Edit: spelling errors
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u/ImJustHere4TheCatz 19d ago
About the good feeling when you've accepted your own demise: I had sepsis once from Lyme disease (tick related illness, in case you're not in that region of the world) and I also had an eerily calm feeling that I was going to die. It wasn't a flight or fight or freeze situation at all. It was like I could sense the shadow of death slowly enveloping me, and a strange sort of acceptance of it. I told my partner my end of life and after life instructions before I went to the hospital. Notably, it turns out that that one symptom is in fact a symptom of sepsis and I was intuitive enough to tell the intake nurse about it upon arriving at the ER. That statement is what triggered them to go into sepsis protocol and I was in an ER bed with an IV in my arm within less than 5 minutes. Saved my life.
This tells me that if one ever gets that peaceful and accepting feeling of their inevitable demise, allow your brain to use that to kick start you back into survival mode. Like no no, father time, you are not coming for me this day.
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u/TwentyfootAngels 19d ago
I found out semi-recently that medical textbooks call it "an impending sense of doom."
ER doctors hear people say that they "feel like they're dying" pretty often; and it's not like those people are lying or anything, they really do. But if somebody says that they're "going to die"... that's something else.
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u/ImJustHere4TheCatz 19d ago
Yes and I made sure to tell the nurse that this was not like me at all. That I'm usually pretty rational and level headed about this kind of thing, I've been through multiple tough experiences but never ever once felt like or thought that I was dying before and it's not like me at all to say something like that.
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u/slothdonki 19d ago edited 19d ago
Might be a dumb question but was he right to ditch his life jacket half way or is this a thing that worked for him but no one would ever recommend it(unless it’s stuck on something I guess)?
Obviously it worked out for him and he’s incredible, but ditching a life jacket even if the waves are pushing you out is not something I’ve ever heard before brought up in boat/water safety before.
Edit: I don’t have time to reply to every reply but thank you!
I figured just not risking the drowning would be answer but good to know! Felt the need to ask because I got pushed off a boat as a teenager for taking off my life jacket to adjust it and my shirt “as a lesson”. Far out enough not to see land and he “left”(still within my eyesight and he came back but he went pretty dang far). Never got a boat with him again.
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u/AI_moderated_failure 19d ago
It may have meant he could reach the shore because there's less bulk creating drag and resistance, while massively increasing his chances of drowning from exhaustion.
It worked this time but it's still extremely likely in a repeat situation he would just drown from exhaustion and his family wouldn't have survived long enough for rescue.
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u/Not-TheNSA 19d ago
Personally I’d never recommend ditching a floatation device. If you’re facing strong currents the floatation device is going to save your strength because you’ll be spending less energy staying afloat, if the current ends up overwhelming you or you hit your exhaustion wall the floatation device may be all that keeps your head above water. To be perfectly honest with you I’d guess that he probably struggled with the swimming initially and at some point the body mechanics of swimming clicked for him, at which point he made the decision that the floatation device was hindering him and he decided to ditch it choosing speed over preserving energy.
When I was in SAR we used to wear wet suits and inflatable life preservers with compressed gas cylinders. If we ever needed the extra buoyancy you just pull the rip cord. But we didn’t actively swim with them inflated because they slow you down, they keep you higher in the water which means more resistance (larger surface area pushing against surface tension) they get in the way of efficient swimming mechanics too.
I really do think this was an example of a kid who figured out how to swim in a life and death situation, made a judgement call that not a lot of adults would have been able to make and ditched a PFD that was slowing him down. Most adults aren’t aware enough of their limitations to be able to make the call that they have enough left in the tank to power through without the PFD. I think this kid really just decided he wasn’t going to quit and he didn’t. The human body is capable of a lot more than we think it is. The mind often gives up long before the body does. If you decide that quitting isn’t an option you can achieve amazing things. I think that’s exactly what this kid did and it’s astounding to see someone so young have that kind of grit and determination.
But in response to your original question, I do not and would not recommend ditching a PFD in a situation like this. If you are in rough seas and you have flotation, stay with it, preserve your energy and try to signal for help if you can. When you are going out in nature, whether in water or on land, always tell someone where you’re going, what route you plan to take and when you expect to return. Having an “overdue” time is a really good idea that way if you aren’t back by then people know to look for you, with the above information we know where to start looking and where to expand our search from.
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u/ATTACKANDDETHRONEHOG 19d ago
They definitely slow you down a lot, but if you become exhausted without one you’re basically guaranteed to drown.
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u/TonyzTone 19d ago
Never, ever ditch the life jacket. With a life jacket on you can basically just keep kicking your feet almost like you’re walking and make progress without ever really worrying about your head going under.
It’s why the Navy’s entire uniform is designed (and they’re trained) to become floatation devices.
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u/theartistduring 19d ago edited 19d ago
From memory, I think the mum told him to leave them and swim to shore, which is just an impossible choice to make. Then keeping the other two, as well as herself, upright on those boards for ten hours! Like mother like son.
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u/Impossible_Divide297 19d ago
Couldn’t agree more.
That boy is what I call a (young) man.
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u/marmosetohmarmoset 19d ago
Every time I read this story I think about the mother and what it must have been like to make that decision and then be alone with those two young kids. Terrifying.
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u/VirtualMatter2 19d ago
The question I have is why they were in this position in the first place.
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u/One-Blacksmith5356 19d ago
I believe they were in the water on kayaks and paddle boards they’d rented, accidentally went out a little too far and then the wind picked up/ conditions changed quickly and they couldn’t get back in. Not anyone’s fault just a normal situation that went wrong quickly by the sounds of it
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u/Free_as_in_Freya 19d ago
Irresponsible of the rental company to not keep an eye on material not being returned in time. Should raise immediate alarm when that happens
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u/Jackoby_Jones 19d ago
She didn’t actually know he’d have to swim, she thought he was in a kayak with a life jacket on. But his kayak took on water and sank and he took the jacket off to swim better.
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u/dirtyLizard 19d ago
Which begs the question; what kind of garbage kayak was this? Ocean kayak’s are so buoyant that you can completely submerge them and they stay just below the surface. It’s possible that the kid didn’t know that I guess
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u/Jackoby_Jones 19d ago
They hired them from a hotel that didn’t even keep track of return times, so they were probably a bit shitty, looks like the paddle boards were only inflatable ones
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u/ImJustHere4TheCatz 19d ago
She did not know if he could and she did not know if she'd ever see him again but knew it was the only chance of any of them surviving. A literal numbers game and having to play it with the lives of all your children... Ugh!
Can you imagine the feelings of the Mom when she saw the rescuers? Disbelief, amazement, relief, pride beyond belief and at the same time a bit of "I knew he could do it". Just so many feelings at once omg
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u/SkySpecial4512 19d ago
Yeah as a parent that’s the bit that brought me to tears. Imagining sending your oldest, barely a teenager, on an impossible journey that’s certain to end in his death but the infinitesimal chance of his success is all your other kids have
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u/SimilarRazzmatazz465 19d ago
Seems like Austin Appelbee is a boy of focus, commitment and sheer f**kin' will
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u/gdj11 19d ago
I heard he killed a shark with a pencil as he was swimming back. A fucking pencil.
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u/OilheadRider 19d ago
Austin Aoplebee is ten percent luck Twenty percent skill Fifteen percent concentrated power of will Five percent pleasure Fifty percent pain And a hundred percent reason to remember the name
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u/elinordash 19d ago
Two months ago Austin posted a video describing his experience. Right now, it only has 62 views.
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u/whoamannipples 19d ago
1,001 views now but he legit asks for help to make it go viral. Absolutely devastating video to watch as a parent, that child is a better man than 90% of the men I’ve ever met. Signed, a man who cried watching this kids video
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u/AI_moderated_failure 19d ago
Most people don't appreciate how much harder it is to swim than walk/run. 4km is a LOT. Professional watersports instructors are only expected to be able to do 1km at a time. A typical pool length will be 25-50m at most, so think of yourself doing 80-160 laps of the pool without a proper rest. Even relatively fit and active people would find this exhausting.
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u/mrsir1987 19d ago
4k in a swimming pool is fucking insane. This kid is a hero doing it in open water. If anyone knows though is the mom tiny or the kid really big?
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u/Tropicalfisher 19d ago
Tiny mom probably, judging from the fact that she is barely taller than the kids
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u/Dreamin0904 19d ago
To add to this, the southwestern Australian waters around the Dunsborough WA area are pretty damn sharky.
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u/Madragun 19d ago
That's what really gets me about this story, probably because I have a terrible fear of sharks and always stick close to the shore. Swimming through the open ocean for hours is literally my worst nightmare, and then you put all the pressure of saving your entire family on top of that. Crazy feat of willpower and mental fortitude for any human let alone a kid.
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u/kelldricked 19d ago
80-160 laps in a pool is insane, but this was in open waters with currents. Hell its amazing he even found his way onto land. A lot of people would simply get diverted by current and tire out before coming close (this absolutely includes me).
Riptides (think this is the english word for it) are insanely scary if you dont know how to deal with them. And even if you know how to deal with them, its really hard to realize you cant swim against it and need to swim to the sides. Feels like giving up controll when you are in a situation thats lifethreating. But actually you are doing the only thing that can give you controll
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u/caspergaming634 19d ago
Just to add. As someone who has ran many marathons, running and cardio have been my life. Swimming is a way harder exercise and workout and activity all together than running and it's not even close.
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u/Interesting_Sock9142 19d ago
Wait are the arm crutches due to injuries he got from swimming/running to find help?
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u/B1astHardcheese 19d ago
His mother and siblings will never win another argument with him, ever. "Well, did you swim 5 km and run another 2 to save your lives? No? Didn't think so."
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u/Kind_Poetry_8425 19d ago
he ran barefoot two kilometers after swimming for hours that’s insane endurance
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u/Elismom1313 19d ago
To be fair the mom apparently did some crazy work keeping her other children afloat for the crazy length of time. As another person said that whole family is made of something insane. Sounds like a lot of love, fear and adrenaline.
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u/Own_Faithlessness769 19d ago
Yeah at first people were criticising her for not doing the swim but she was trying to keep the other two afloat on the paddle board and calm. While being terrified Austin had drowned and they were all going to die.
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u/Elismom1313 19d ago
I’m glad she didn’t, they likely would’ve all drowned frankly
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u/Own_Faithlessness769 19d ago
It’s certainly hard to get a better outcome than the one they did, so she made the right call.
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u/nosebearnosebear 19d ago
People in this comment still blame her from bringing the kids kayaking in the first place. As if kayaking with your kids as fun time activity is so out of normalcy. It's a normal fun activity for people at the beach 🙄. Sometimes shit happen out of our control. Cant believe so many still blame the mother.
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u/blizzywolf122 19d ago
Further to this story he was apparently told by his swim instructor at school that he wasn’t a good swimmer. So it’s safe to say he proved them wrong
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u/GuppyDriver737 19d ago
Did the run mess up his legs or something?
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u/gene100001 19d ago
Yeah in another news article they said his legs his legs were basically left too sore and exhausted to walk without crutches for few days. He must've pushed himself to his absolute physical limit.
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u/spekt50 19d ago
Probably was at risk of rhabdomyolysis after that. Muscles were surely destroyed.
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u/YungChumba 19d ago
I had rhabdo once and that shit is no joke. Almost had to have my legs amputated.
Of course mine was from nodding off in a weird position on heroin, so not quite as heroic. Almost though.
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u/activelyresting 19d ago
You know Bayer pharmaceutical invented heroin and they named it that because in early clinical trials, patients said it made them feel heroic.
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u/michaeldaph 19d ago
A diver survived 75hrs in the open ocean here a few years ago. Apart from dehydration and sunburn apparently the most dangerous time for him when rescued was being pulled out of the water on to the boat. He lived. Different of course, but interesting that prolonged weightlessness in water can cause severe medical issues.
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u/MicrotracS3500 19d ago
Wow, 75 hours is right at the limit of death due to dehydration. I feel like I'd mentally break and drink seawater due to my body craving fluids, and end up dying more quickly.
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u/phido3000 19d ago
"Doctors later told Austin that the strain on his body was comparable to running two marathons, and gave him crutches to help his legs recover."
https://www.thatslife.com.au/real-life/wa-teen-austin-appelbee-heroic-swim-rescue/
My legs were like jelly but I kept kicking, thinking of my favourite songs, and my girlfriend Evie, then 13 – anything to keep going.
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It was another two hours before my feet finally touched the sand. I’d made it!
Stumbling through the shallows, I just wanted to lie down but I still needed to get to my phone on the beach, about two kilometres away from where I’d ended up.
I sprinted across the sand as fast as I could, but it seemed to take an eternity.
My body was on the edge of collapse when I finally reached my phone, but I knew I had to hold it together to call Emergency. By now, it was around 6p
Over 10 hrs in the water. battling the waves desperately together before giving up and sending him alone to kayak then swim to shore. The a 2km run back to the phones. Bare foot and removed most of his clothing.
Sounds like they were exhausted for hours before sending him off by himself.
Dude is a champ. When people say young people can't do things, here is the perfect case study against it.
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u/aroseonthefritz 19d ago
I hope Evie never breaks this boys heart
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u/Klutche 19d ago
Regardless of where life takes them, they must have a special relationship if the thought of her gave him strength when he needed it. That's a wonderful thing to experience.
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u/A_little_curiosity 19d ago
It's a reminder of the richness of the inner worlds of young people
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u/FalseDrive 19d ago
So many people disregard “young” relationships as stupid and meaningless, and downplay their child/sibling’s love and heartbreak because they aren’t adults. Do kids make the most sensible decisions? No. Do they have to deal with “adult” problems, like marriage and buying a house and finances etc? No. Doesn’t mean those relationships don’t mean something
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u/gtzippy 19d ago
The barefoot running probably did a number on his feet
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u/love_cici 19d ago edited 19d ago
i can't imagine that feeling, finally getting to shore. what was he thinking as he sprinted down the road? i'm trying to picture how high my heart rate would be, wondering if your family is still alive, running as fast as your body will allow. my stomach would be in my throat. i'd be tearing up because i do that when i'm spooked. and the idea you could lose basically your entire family? this kid did an incredible thing, true courage.
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u/GrundleSnactcher46 19d ago
He swam kilometers then hand to go around and find a phone. His legs muscles were fucked from the effort.
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u/colourful_space 19d ago
Here’s the original news coverage from February: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-02/geographe-bay-rescue-boy-superhuman-swim/106296100?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=link
And a followup from March: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03-07/appelbee-family-thanks-rescuers-who-saved-them/106425048?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=link
The whole story is incredible. Austin’s resilience to keep swimming and running for as long as he did saved his family’s lives, and it’s also a miracle his mum and little siblings were able to keep treading water until the rescue crew arrived. The whole country should be proud to have Austin here.
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u/DisasterSuccessful66 19d ago
Wow, that current pulling out is incredibly quick. Even though they were still in the bay it looks like the current was completely keeping them from reaching the shore. Incredible that the kid was able to swim against the current for that long, 1km/hr against the ocean is incredible.
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u/Himawari_Uzumaki 19d ago
The mother gave a speech at my nieces school assembly a week later. Claimed God told her to send her son by himself and that Jesus rode on her sons back giving him guidance as he swam. Full blown nutter family. but I'm glad it worked out in the end
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u/Yoshi9105 19d ago
I generally don't care what people believe in but I really do hate and think it's sad how they always reduce someone's incredible strength or determination to "God did it." no. God didn't do shit. it was on a 13 year old to save his family, and against all odds, he did. God had absolutely no part in this.
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u/AddlePatedBadger 19d ago
Yeah, she seems to have forgotten to blame god for putting them in that situation in the first place.
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u/MACHOmanJITSU 19d ago
When bad things happen to “good” people, it’s to test their faith. When bad things happen to “other” people, it’s gods judgment.
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u/-Jiras 19d ago
Yeah thank you OMG I hate it. This is why I feel like it's an abusive relationship between the person and god.
Something bad happened to you? Probably deserved it/ god testing you.
You did something good? No fuck you, god did that, not you, be thankful for him and not proud of yourself.
Things don't seem to work out for you even tho you are so dedicated to God and pray everything single day? Though luck, better pray harder next time, it's all because you don't believe enough.
The boy swam 4km to safe his family only for the mom to praise God. I would be pissed
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u/OhHeyMoll 19d ago
Can you imagine how much faster that kid would have been if Jesus actually helped him swim instead of just riding on his back?
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u/Brilliant-Willow-506 19d ago
I’m gonna use this with my 13 yr old next time he complains about anything. “You don’t want to do your math homework? You think Austin Applebee would say that? No. He’d swim 22 miles and run 58 more just to do some math!”
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u/VegetableRound2819 19d ago
There was such a tiny chance this would turn out well. Great job, Austin! We are proud of you.
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u/ol0pl0x 19d ago
The "911" call was added in some articles and it is pretty insane to list to. Kid was calm, clear, answered perfectly to every question, and also was aware of his own overheating.
All hats off, kid will be going places.
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