A boy aged just 13 has been credited with saving the lives of his Irish mother and two younger siblings after the family was swept out to sea off Western Australia’s coast.
Austin Appelbee swam for four hours, covering 4km to shore, to raise the alarm after he; his mother Joanne Appelbee (47), who is originally from Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan; brother Beau (12) and sister Grace (8) got into difficulties on Friday, police said.
Austin said he initially set off for help on an inflatable kayak that was taking in water. He abandoned the kayak and then took off his life jacket because it impeded his swimming.
He said he tried to focus on positive thoughts as he swam for around four hours through rough seas to shore, raising the alarm at 6pm.
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“The waves are large and I have no life jacket on. I just kept thinking, ‘Just keep swimming, just keep swimming’,” Austin said on Tuesday. “And then I finally made it to shore and I hit the bottom of the beach and I just collapsed.”
The family, from Perth, Western Australia, were on holiday and were using kayaks and paddle boards hired from their hotel at around noon when rough ocean and wind conditions started dragging them out to sea.
A search helicopter found the mother and two children wearing life jackets and clinging to a paddle board at 8.30pm, police said. They had drifted 14km from Quindalup in Western Australia after spending up to 10 hours in the water.
“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,” police inspector James Bradley said.
Joanne Appelbee told RTÉ’s Six One News on Tuesday 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 that she hasn’t slept since Joanne left the hospital.
“Loads of things were going through my head. I was picturing myself in that situation and wondering what I’d do. Thank God, they got saved.
“Austin is a very quiet and good child and he offered to go for help. He kept telling his mother that he would make it and get them all help.”
She said that Austin was trying to paddle using his hands but the waves kept pushing him back and he was getting nowhere.
He then started swimming, first pulling his life jacket partly off him to aid his swimming and then he removed it altogether as he felt it was slowing him down.
“I’m so proud of them all. I last saw them when I visited Australia in November two years ago and I’ll be seeing them again soon one way or another, whether they come to Ireland or we go out to see them.”
“They are all heroes.”
Cunningham also told RTÉ Radio’s Morning Ireland she had spoken with daughter Joanne but had not yet spoken with her grandchildren.
“I’m proud of the two boys and the wee girl. She’s a very, very shy little girl. She doesn’t like any publicity at all. The two boys are very good, and herself. It was great. Absolutely brilliant.”
Her daughter told her of her fears when Austin went to swim to shore to raise the alarm.
“She tied the two children, tied the two of them together ...,and to herself. So they were all together. So anyway, after a long time, the helicopter came.”
Cunningham said she hoped the family’s experience would be a lesson to people “not to go out on those damn things”.
Following medical assessment, the family was discharged and the children attended an Ed Sheeran concert.
Cunningham said the tickets had been a Christmas present but staff at the hospital organised for them to attend as VIPs. “So they were delighted with that and that cheered them up a bit.”
Doreen has four children, two sons who live in Monaghan and Meath and another girl who lives in west Cork. “Both my daughters went west,” she laughed.
Joanne has lived in Australia for 22 years with her three children and husband Justin.
Doreen said lessons have to be learned in the aftermath of the rescue.
“These crafts should have some sort of emergency button or way to raise the alarm if needed. There definitely should’ve been something to help them be rescued faster.”
– Additional reporting: Associated Press
