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.

[u/Electronic-Bus-3494]

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.

[u/theartistduring]

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. 

[u/Impossible_Divide297 → u/[deleted]]

Couldn’t agree more.

That boy is what I call a (young) man.

[u/ThePianistOfDoom → u/Impossible_Divide297]

A MUAYNNNNN

[u/OkInflation4056 → u/Impossible_Divide297]

Oh behave

[u/Dry-Magician1415 → u/[deleted]]

The brains of a lump of steel too I imagine then.

It's just flat out irresponsible to even be in a situation where there's a chance you've got your kids stranded 14km offshore on paddleboards.

Props for the endurance. Major concerns regarding judgment.

[u/Free_as_in_Freya → u/Dry-Magician1415]

There's always a chance. Sea currents are unpredictable and land always looks way closer than it is. By the time you notice drifting off, you're already too far out. That's why you should never do things like this without letting someone on shore know about it

[u/Zeziml99 → u/Free_as_in_Freya]

Modern phones have satalite texting you can also use for emergencies. If you're going on the ocean, you should have a sat phone

[u/Free_as_in_Freya → u/Zeziml99]

Not if you're just near the shore on a paddle board... But then you should have someone looking out for your safe return. In this case I think it was probably neglectful of the rental place to not raise the alarm when the boards weren't returned. 4 km is at least a 2 hour swim in a calm pool so they must have been gone for quite a while. Honestly I think rental boards should have GPS trackers on them that raise the alarm when they go out of a certain range

[u/AffectionateTentacle → u/Dry-Magician1415]

You're getting downvoted but you're absolutely right lmao, that dim woman put her kids in mortal danger and the 13 year old miraculously saved the day, but if not for him there'd be 4 corpses, and for what?

[u/Fresh_Iron_6180 → u/Dry-Magician1415]

4km, not 14

[u/craxz138 → u/Fresh_Iron_6180]

I think they were on about when they were found, 14km offshore and had to cling to the boards for 10 hours

[u/glowdirt → u/[deleted]]

Damn, that must have made swimming especially difficult. /s

[u/marmosetohmarmoset → u/theartistduring]

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.

[u/VirtualMatter2 → u/marmosetohmarmoset]

The question I have is why they were in this position in the first place. 

[u/One-Blacksmith5356 → u/VirtualMatter2]

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

[u/Free_as_in_Freya → u/One-Blacksmith5356]

Irresponsible of the rental company to not keep an eye on material not being returned in time. Should raise immediate alarm when that happens

[u/Dbonnza → u/One-Blacksmith5356]

1 km is not ‘out a little too far’ never mind 4. It’s not a normal situation. If she had one kid she could supervise maybe. Not 3 on paddle boards who can’t swim. This is utterly irresponsible and terrible parenting.

[u/darain2 → u/Dbonnza]

It's not so easy to eyeball the difference between 500m and 1km. One moment you took your eye off the shore because you're watching over the kids, the next thing you know, the tide has carried you to 1km out and quickly climbing. It escalates quickly. I was really surprised at how quick things changed when I took a dip in Esperance, Western Australia. I was lucky and grateful for that lesson that didn't result in any significant consequences other than a scare and never to underestimate mother nature. It was just a simple swim/float/relax.

[u/Yoshi9105 → u/darain2]

mildly related -- my family and I were on holiday on Fuerteventura one year (Canary Islands) and me and my younger brother (I was 18, he was 15) took surfing lessons at the local tourist beach. my brother had a habit of going slightly too far from the group, the instructor kept having to call him back.

one time we drove to a different beach with much higher waves, it was more open, surrounded by cliffs, and definitely a different situation than the calm water of the tourist beach we'd been practicing in. the instructor specifically called out my brother and said "do not go too far, because if the current catches you, the next time you see land will be Tenerife"

I was barely surfing that day and just kept an eye on my brother to make sure I won't have to explain to my parents why we need to take a detour to another island.

[u/VirtualMatter2 → u/Yoshi9105]

Why is it always the youngest boy who doesn't listen? Usually spoilt by mom. 

[u/Yoshi9105 → u/VirtualMatter2]

lol that he was. this guy got away with murder growing up. drove me crazy.

[u/VirtualMatter2 → u/Yoshi9105]

It's bad parenting. Some moms spoil their youngest boy and it doesn't do anyone any favours. Neither the boy nor the siblings nor the teachers. Your mom is an idiot, sorry to say. 

[u/Dbonnza → u/darain2]

I’d have advised her not to do it with three kids at all. As an adult you choose to take the risks. With your kids you shouldn’t be taking the risk or putting them in that situation. It’s like taking them on a national speed limit dual carriageway on a bicycle. Yes you can. Should you? No. Is it bad parenting if you do? Yes.

[u/LezzyGopher → u/Dbonnza]

Don’t know why you got downvoted. Open water paddle boarding with 3 kids who can’t swim is an awful idea and it shouldn’t have been done.

[u/Asleep_Region → u/LezzyGopher]

Imo open water paddle boarding just shouldn't be a thing. Don't ever be out further than you can swim.

[u/Apprehensive_Let7075 → u/Dbonnza]

Irresponsible would be the hire staff who didn’t notice the equipment hadn’t been returned and made no effort to find out why. The water in the bay is usually quite calm, like a swimming pool, to the point it can be flat like a sheet of glass. it’s a long shallow slope, perfect for teaching kids to be in and around the ocean. Thousands upon thousands of us west Aussies spend our summers there, my own kids have spent their summers learning how to swim, kayak, paddle board, snorkle in that same bay, from being babies/ toddlers. The wind can come up quickly and push you out, but Incidents like this one are very, very rare. It can be different if you go several hundred metres out from the beach, but I assume that wasn’t Mum’s intention. Our kids have at least one block of intensive swimming lessons per year through primary school, many kids will also participate in weekly private swim lessons from being babies, there are intensive blocks of swimming lessons run in school holidays, and for kids who are interested, they can spend their summers doing junior beach lifesaving from 5. Our state has long, hot summers, and as such we spend a lot of time around backyard pools, lakes, beaches, rivers, farm dams..and sadly we also have a lot of drownings. There is a strong culture of teaching kids the skills to survive in water from an early age. Swimming lessons are very tough, they will fail you for having your ankles at the wrong angle whilst swimming. Austin didn’t complete the 350m pool swim, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s a weak swimmer. It seems like a great motivation to get him out in the water to keep practicing, build stamina and strength. Kid did an amazing thing, and kept his head about him. Mum did a great job giving him the mental skills to believe in himself and not give up.

[u/Dbonnza → u/Apprehensive_Let7075]

Still bad parenting

[u/rognabologna → u/Dbonnza]

You should consider why your instinct is to need to place the blame on someone when a disaster occurs. Maybe your parents didn’t do a very good job raising you

[u/maddy_k_allday → u/rognabologna]

They didn’t place blame, they correctly identified an action of poor parenting. A person can act negligently without being fully or even primarily to blame as the cause of something bad. It’s definitely a fact, however, that this situation could not occur but for this parent’s choice to bring three minor dependents out in open water

[u/rognabologna → u/maddy_k_allday]

Another local described the place and how common that is, in what is typically a calm, family friendly bay, and how rare it is for the weather to pick up as it had in this situation. 

Reddit tends toward hating children, hating parents, and hating women, in general. If any of these elements are present, someone is itching to criticize, despite lacking context. 

[u/Front_Leave_6480 → u/Dbonnza]

They went a little too far out, then the wind and currents picked up and they were pulled 4km out. The mum didn’t decide to take them that far out but accidents happen and they are very lucky.

[u/maddy_k_allday → u/Front_Leave_6480]

Open water is open lmao. Mom chose to take three minor dependents out into open water. That’s a choice, not an accident. An insanely irresponsible choice by a person who took on a huge responsibility as the parent and supervisor of all those minor children.

[u/Dbonnza → u/Front_Leave_6480]

Very lucky and he’s an amazing young lad. Whether intentional or not there’s a reason accidents happen and 99% of the time it’s because someone did or did not do something. If you were looking after three young children on padel boards you wouldn’t risk being a little too far out. If you’re on your own crack on. With kids make sure there’s as little risk as possible of this happening. If you’re on your own looking after three kids. Don’t take them padel boarding in the ocean where there’s a risk of going a little too far out. It’s not rocket science

[u/RubiiJee → u/Dbonnza]

Life doesn't work like this. There's a reason they're called accidents. People make mistakes constantly. It's part of the human condition. Gotta love the smarmy Redditor who has to pop into every thread and be like "actually 🤓". This is how life works. All day, every day. Let's celebrate the fact they turned a horrific experience into a positive instead of hyper analysing everything to point out mistakes.

[u/ImJustHere4TheCatz → u/Dbonnza]

These are the waters of Australia mate. Things can get away from you very fast

[u/theartistduring → u/Dbonnza]

Who said they can't swim?

[u/Dbonnza → u/theartistduring]

He failed his swimming cert two weeks before this. I’m hoping she didn’t ask the one kid who couldn’t swim to swim the 4km

[u/theartistduring → u/Dbonnza]

That doesn't mean he can't swim. He failed to swim 350m without stopping. And at 350m, that means he has already passed several other certifications as the lowest water safety benchmark is 50m non stop.

You don't have any idea about Australian swimming culture, do you?

[u/snarkitall → u/theartistduring]

The distance he failed was the same distance required to pass bronze cross which allows you to work as a junior life guard. 

He might have failed the time requirement, or the form requirement. He might have been under the weather that day or just not have been taking it very seriously. I failed my bronze cross a couple times because I hated front crawl and wasn't good at it. But I was capable of swimming across the lake I grew up on in breaststroke. 

It's so perfectly Reddit for a bunch of people to call failing a random 350 swim cert "not being able to swim". 

[u/Dbonnza → u/theartistduring]

Sorry I have failed in the life goal of being an expert in Australian swimming culture. 😆😆😆. ‘Who aren’t strong swimmers’ then. It’s still terrible parenting whichever way you look at it. If you think it isn’t crack on. Darwin effect will work out eventually

[u/theartistduring → u/Dbonnza]

Darwin effect will work out eventually

Did you just wish death on kids?

To get to the level required to even try for the 350m, you are already considered a strong swimmer.

So yeah, maybe if you don't understand the swimming levels or terminology of how swimming is taught in a particular country, you should refrain from making moral judgements based on it.

[u/lorealashblonde → u/Dbonnza]

Sorry you have failed at being a human who doesn’t see themselves as “the main character”.

Darwin effect won’t work on you as you’re just as shit as most others. But PLEASE try and recognise you are wrong here and do better.

[u/VirtualMatter2 → u/theartistduring]

50m is what 4-5 year olds swim. 

350m is roughly equivalent to the German silver swim exam and my kids both passed that before their 8th birthday. So if he failed that at age 13 he was a very weak swimmer. ( Silver exam: 20 minutes continuous swimming (including headfirst dive from the pool edge) and at least 400 m total distance (of which 300 m in front position and 100 m in back position)

Two deep dives (approx. 2 m) with objects, 10 m underwater swimming, dives from 1 m/3 m height, and knowledge of pool rules and self-rescue)

So if he's the oldest and strongest swimmer and can't do 350m, what were the others like?  And what happend to the other people renting things. Or were they the only ones?

(As a side note I get the feeling this was bad parenting. Also the mother is smiling and the kids all look completely pissed off. Maybe she pushed them to go out that far and not turn around when wind picked up.)

[u/theartistduring → u/VirtualMatter2]

Just make up narratives to fit your 'feelings'. Then you can never be wrong!

[u/snarkitall → u/Dbonnza]

Who says the kids couldn't swim? They seem like a very outdoorsy family who were used to being in the water a lot. 

My dad and I are life long swimmers. We camp often, and swimming in large cold lakes is something he's done for more than 70 years and that he taught me to do from when I was very little. 

A few years ago we went on a yearly fall camping trip. The water was unusually warm so the whole family went swimming. Unbeknownst to us, the rip tides in the area change with the season, but in years past the water is generally far too cold for swimming by October. We have swum there multiple times at different times and know the riptide area to avoid. 

The wind unexpectedly picked up and my dad and I got sucked out by the riptide and the water was suddenly extremely rough. He was actively drowning and I had to swim out, get help and go back into the riptide to get him with a flotation board. Unmanned beach, fortunately the rest of my family was already out of the water and called the ambulance and there were a couple other people there to help me when I got him back to shore. 

I remember the exact moment when the situation became dire - it's burned into my brain. One of my kids could easily have ended up with us out there, it still turns my stomach to think about it, because the situation went from "this is a normal swim, this is fun" to "Hmm, this is getting a bit tough" to "I might actually die here" within seconds. 

The only way to avoid the situation entirely would be to never do recreational activities in large wild bodies of water. 

[u/somewhatundercontrol → u/One-Blacksmith5356]

The resort they were at never noticed that they didn’t return the equipment or come back

[u/sands_of__time → u/One-Blacksmith5356]

I wouldn't go as far as to say it was "not anyone's fault". It certainly was someone's fault, as clearly proper safety measures weren't adhered to, especially considering this is open ocean with small children.

[u/mustard5man7max3 → u/sands_of__time]

Sometimes things go wrong, and it isn't necessarily someone's fault for it.

I'm sure the mum doesn't need you telling her to realise how dangerous the situation was. I imagine that kicked in around hour 0.

[u/Such-Rent9481 → u/mustard5man7max3]

If it kicked in at hour 0 then they shouldn’t have gone out so far with 3 young kids who can’t swim

[u/VirtualMatter2 → u/mustard5man7max3]

Pretty it didn't kick in before she decided to go out with three weak swimmers and only one adult to supervise. 

Also unfortunate to rent from irresponsible staff who didn't contact rescue when they didn't return the equipment. 

[u/theadsheep → u/One-Blacksmith5356]

I disagree. She went out on the sea alone with multiple kids on multiple kayaks or paddle boards in an area where apparently nobody even saw them drift away. Maybe they were just a few meters away from shore and got unlucky but if they were further out this was wildly irresponsible.

[u/imboredsoimhere → u/One-Blacksmith5356]

Irresponsible.

[u/Ok_Calligrapher5278 → u/One-Blacksmith5356]

I consider the mother at fault, she assumed the risk without proper qualifications, she's liable for endangering 2 minors and for the whole manpower needed for the rescue.

Conditions are very predictable, when going out on water you always know what you'll find for the day. If there's any chance of rough time you just don't go.

[u/theartistduring → u/Ok_Calligrapher5278]

Tell me you know nothing about liability or the ocean without telling me...

[u/One-Blacksmith5356 → u/Ok_Calligrapher5278]

Just curious if you live near the ocean? I grew up by the coast and conditions here definitely can change quick. Paddle boarding/ kayaking is typically a pretty low risk activity though, we did it in primary school on day trips. Easy to judge mum but at the end of the day she was just trying to take her kids for a nice day out and then did her best in a really tough situation.

[u/iruleatants → u/One-Blacksmith5356]

Hey now. They are an armchair Redditor here to pass judgment on things they know nothing about.

Don't try and reason with them, they don't use reason in their judgement so it's kinda pointless.

[u/Top-Expert6086 → u/Ok_Calligrapher5278]

Conditions are not predictable

[u/VirtualMatter2 → u/Top-Expert6086]

So you don't take three weak swimmers there with only one parent, right, right? If it's unpredictable it's not safe, surely?

[u/Bubba006 → u/Top-Expert6086]

And thats why you dont go out into the ocean with 3 kids

[u/VirtualMatter2 → u/Ok_Calligrapher5278]

Three minors, all not very strong swimmers. I agree with you. 

[u/Livid-Statement-3169 → u/VirtualMatter2]

Please read what Western Australian commentators have said about their swim tests.

[u/VirtualMatter2 → u/Livid-Statement-3169]

I did. He failed his 350m swim test. Unless that was in the ocean, 350 isn't very good for ages 13 at all. And his siblings were younger. 

[u/snarkitall → u/VirtualMatter2]

There's lots of reasons why a kid might fail his swim cert in the moment. A school run swimming test with dozens of other kids, maybe he was sick that day, maybe he was being a bit of a dick and goofing around, maybe he was showing off and racing with friends and then didn't pace himself. Middle school boys aren't typically known for their judgement when it comes to hanging around their friends at school. 

My kids have definitely done worse on tests or failed things in a group setting that I know they are perfectly capable of doing well on their own. 

[u/VirtualMatter2 → u/snarkitall]

So the school runs these tests and they do them every year in the sports class or how does this work?  And is there a pass and fail and you do it again next year? Can you have passed 350m swim one year and fail the next? How do you retake it? And why would they test a kid who is ill? We don't do swim exams in school in Germany. They can be done with the school, but they need to be tested by a certified person, not a random teacher. 

Middle school boys aren't typically known for their judgement when it comes to hanging around their friends at school. 

That's definitely accurate!

[u/Dbonnza → u/One-Blacksmith5356]

The fourth paragraph shows you were more prepared, beknownst or un, than the mother above. Your entire party wasn’t in the water, you were in fact under supervision from people who could raise the alarm. They did. You were an adult by the sounds of it, so your choice not your parents. So tbh this isn’t really a comparable tale. Glad no one was hurt tho. And there’s plenty of comments about the facts around the children’s ability to swim. I’m sure you’ve read them and didn’t read my comment in isolation. Also. You may have not known about the October tidal effect on the water you were swimming in, someone will have tho. Research is an amazing thing. Google and AI are very fast these days

[u/Sydafexx → u/VirtualMatter2]

-u/Sydafexx

[u/Such-Rent9481 → u/VirtualMatter2]

Exactly, me too? 😵‍💫

[u/Jackoby_Jones → u/theartistduring]

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.

[u/dirtyLizard → u/Jackoby_Jones]

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

[u/Jackoby_Jones → u/dirtyLizard]

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

[u/ImJustHere4TheCatz → u/theartistduring]

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

[u/SkySpecial4512 → u/theartistduring]

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

[u/pheonix_balls → u/theartistduring]

This bloke is a cousin of mine. Family indeed made of steel.

[u/Ent_Trip_Newer → u/theartistduring]

Aussies are definitely built tough

[u/OscarMichaelMyers → u/theartistduring]

Don’t applaud this dumbass woman.

[u/ardotschgi → u/theartistduring]

Honestly, she sacrificed him. If everything we read about the kid failing his swimming class of 350m, there's no way she could expect him to make the swim in open water of 4km.
It's basically all I can think about whenever this story comes up again. How could the mom think that this is the best option for them?

[u/Drunk_but_Functional → u/ardotschgi]

What would you have done in that situation?

[u/snarkitall → u/ardotschgi]

He was in a kayak. Of everyone he had what should have been the most seaworthy vessel and the best chance of paddling back to shore. 

[u/canman7373 → u/theartistduring]

Jack there's no room on this giant wooden door fir you, let go.

[u/boof_tongue → u/theartistduring]

Weren't there people on the beach he could have gone up to but chose not to because they were "immigrants"?

[u/Top-Expert6086 → u/boof_tongue]

No. They were tourists who didn't speak English. He tried and failed to communicate with them.

[u/eggheadgirl → u/boof_tongue]

It sounded like he tried to talk to them but they couldn't speak English so he had to keep going

[u/helloswolehello → u/theartistduring]

LC would of drowned all three