A 13-year-old boy who was swept out to sea with his mother and two siblings swam 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) to shore “in rough conditions” to rescue his family, Australian police said.
The group were kayaking and paddleboarding off the coast of Quindalup, Western Australia, on Friday afternoon when they were taken into the water, WA Police said in a statement on Facebook on Monday.
Police said the boy “decided to return to shore in the dim light,” kayaked a short distance before entering the water, then swam back and alerted authorities around 6 p.m. local time (5 a.m. ET).
A search and rescue operation was then launched, and a 47-year-old woman, a 12-year-old boy and an 8-year-old girl were “found by a rescue helicopter clinging to their paddleboards.”
“A volunteer marine rescue vessel was directed to the scene and all three people were safely rescued and returned to shore,” police said in a statement.
Austin Appelby told CNN affiliate 9 News that thinking about his family is what kept him going.
“I just said, ‘Okay. Not today, not today, not today,'” he said. “I had to keep going.”
“The waves were big. I did breaststroke, freestyle and survival backstroke,” Austin told the outlet.
“I hit the bottom of the beach and fell down, and then I had to sprint two kilometers to get to the phone,” he added.
The boy’s feat was a “superhuman effort”, salvage commander Paul Bresland told 9News.
“It took him two hours without a life jacket on, but he made it,” Bresland said.
Austin’s mother, Joanne Appelby, said all of her children had been swimming since they were young.
“I was speechless at his effort, but I also knew he could do it,” she told 9News.
In a separate statement published on Facebook on Saturday, Marine Rescue Busselton said it was a “fantastic result”.
“This was a fantastic effort by everyone involved under difficult circumstances,” the statement said.
“Please be aware of strong offshore winds that may occur at this time of year,” it added.
