"Teenager Austin Appelbee swam about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) to shore to raise the alarm, police said. "The waves are massive and I have no life jacket on. ... I just kept thinking 'just keep swimming, just keep swimming,' Austin said Tuesday. "And then I finally I made it to shore and I hit the bottom of the beach and I just collapsed.""
"Austin raised the alarm at 6 p.m. and a helicopter spotted his mother Joanne Appelbee, 47, his 12-year-old brother Beau and his 8-year-old sister Grace around 8:30 p.m. The family had drifted about 14 kilometers (9 miles) from Quindalup in Western Australia state and spent about 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."
A family from Perth set out on kayaks and paddleboards and was caught by rough ocean and wind conditions that dragged them out to sea. The family drifted about 14 kilometers from Quindalup and spent roughly 10 hours in the water. Thirteen-year-old Austin Appelbee abandoned an inflatable kayak and discarded his life jacket because it impeded his swimming, then swam about 4 kilometers to shore to raise the alarm. He reached shore around 6 p.m.; a helicopter spotted the mother, Joanne Appelbee, and two younger children around 8:30 p.m. Police praised the boy's determination and courage.
Read at ABC7 Los Angeles
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]