Joanne Appelbee says asking her 13-year-old son Austin to swim four hours through dangerous waters to get help after her family was swept out to sea was “one of the hardest decisions” she has ever made.

“I knew he was the strongest and he could do it,” she told the ABC. “I would have never went because I wouldn’t have left the kids at sea, so I had to send somebody.”

The Appelbee family were on holiday in Quindalup, 200km (125 miles) south of Perth, when strong winds pushed their inflatable paddleboards and kayak offshore from Geographe Bay on Friday afternoon.

In an interview with the BBC, Joanne explained the situation escalated rapidly while she was playing in the water with Austin and his younger siblings Beau, 12, and Grace, 8. It started with “a bit of fun” with two paddleboards and a kayak in shallow water at the beach, when the children “went out a bit too far”.

Boy swims four hours in rough seas to save mother and siblings off Western Australia

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“The wind picked up and it went from there,” she said. “We lost oars, and we drifted out further … It kind of all went wrong very, very quickly.

“Early on, we sent this young man [Austin] back in to try and get help because it didn’t look like we were that far from the shoreline,” she said.

While Austin swam for the shore, Joanne and the children drifted further out to sea, soon losing sight of him.

The sun set and the waves grew increasingly large. Wearing life jackets, they struggled to grab on to the boards.

“I had assumed Austin had made it a lot quicker than he had,” Joanne said.

As more time passed, she questioned whether her plan had worked.

“If he hasn’t made it, what have I done? Have I made the wrong decision, and is anyone going to come and save my other two?”

But Austin swam 4km until he reached the shore.

“I was thinking about Mum, Beau and Grace … When I hit the floor I thought, how am I on land right now, is this a dream?” he said.

“After that, I had to sprint 2km to get to the phone.”

He reached his mother’s bag and rang emergency services at about 6pm local time.

“I said, ‘I need helicopters, I need planes, I need boats, my family’s out at sea.’ I was very calm about it. I think it was just a lot of shock.”

After the call, he passed out from exhaustion and was taken to the hospital where he called his father.

He wasn’t sure if his mother and siblings were still alive.

Out at sea it was dark and freezing cold. Joanne had been struggling to keep hold of her younger children, and feared the worst.

“I had assumed Austin hadn’t made it,” she said. “We couldn’t see anything coming to save us. It was very much getting to that point where we are on our own.”

The search party found the family drifting in the ocean and clinging to a paddleboard about 14km (9 miles) offshore.

At the time, Joanne was desperately trying to reach the children, who were floating away after getting flipped off the board by a large wave.

Joanne heard Grace screaming, but couldn’t hear Beau, until they turned off the boat’s engine and could locate him.

“It was an absolute nightmare,” she told the BBC.

Minutes after calling his father, Austin received the news they had been found. He said doctors and police officers were jumping up and down with joy.

“It was a moment I will never forget,” he said.

Joanne said she could only relax when the same ambulance worker who picked up Austin was able to confirm he too had survived.

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Austin Appelbee (right) and his brother Beau, mother Joanne and sister Grace (L-R). Photograph: Briana Shepherd/ABC News

The family were treated at hospital for minor injuries.

“It was an absolute perfect ending to have them all well and happy and sore but no injuries,” she said.

Austin is still processing the ordeal, but has made it back to school already – on crutches – because his legs were so sore.

He praised the “really quick response” from emergency services and the “lovely ambulance crew”.

“I didn’t think I was a hero, I just did what I did,” he said.

Austin told the ABC he started swimming lessons when he was four and did VacSwim – water safety lessons for children – but had previously found it “quite tiring” to swim 350 metres without having a break.

Police inspector James Bradley thanked those involved in the rescue mission and said it was a reminder that ocean conditions can change rapidly.

“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.”