Ocean rescue hero Austin Appelbee feared for his family and believed he had hypothermia after finally reaching the beach following his mammoth swim, audio of his Triple-0 call revealed.

The schoolboy, 13, swam four kilometres through rough surf and ran two kilometres to phone police to alert them that his mum Joanne and two younger siblings Beau, 12, and Grace, 8, were stranded off Western Australia’s South West coast.

Austin calmly explained they had been on paddleboards and a kayak when they were taken out to sea on January 30, and how his mum had trusted him to get help because they were in “major trouble”.

“It was a very long time ago,” he said.

“We couldn’t get back to shore, and mum told me to go back to get help.

“I haven’t seen them since. They’re kilometres out in sea.

“I think we need a helicopter to go find them.

“I’m sitting on the beach right now and I have to also explain I think I need an ambulance because I think I have hypothermia.”

The composed teen said he abandoned his kayak and life jacket as he battled against the current to make it back to shore.

“The kayak had a bunch of water in it, it started to sink. I kept falling off it.

“I decided to ditch the kayak.”

He said he did not know where his family was, having lost sight of them, and was “really scared”

“I’m extremely tired… I feel like I’m about to pass out. I’m very dizzy,” he told the operator.

Austin Appelbee, right, swam four kilometres to save his mum and younger siblings.Austin Appelbee, right, swam four kilometres to save his mum and younger siblings. Credit: 7NEWS The Appelbee family was plucked from the water more than eight hours after being swept out to sea.The Appelbee family was plucked from the water more than eight hours after being swept out to sea. Credit: / AMSA

His heroic effort sparked a major search and his family were found floating in the ocean, 14km from land, about 8.30pm.

They had been in the water since just after 11am.

Austin’s efforts made international headlines and saw WA Police Minister Reece Whitby lining him up for a job.

“Austin, remarkable bravery, determination, commitment for such a young man,” Whitby said last week.

“So the message for Austin from me and the (Police) Commissioner (Col Blanch), in a couple of years you’ll be invited to join the academy.

“We could do with good young men like you.”

It also emerged that Austin had only recently failed a state-run swimming program shortly before his “superhuman” effort.

SOURCE: https://7news.com.au/news/triple-0-call-reveals-austin-appelbees-plea-for-helicopter-fears-for-family-before-mum-siblings-found-off-wa-coast-c-21605321