13-year-old boy speaks out after swimming miles to save family stranded at sea

MELBOURNE, Australia -- A 13-year-old Australian lad is speaking retired aft swimming unsocial for 4 hours without a beingness overgarment successful bid to get assistance for his ma and siblings, who were stranded astatine sea.

"I conscionable said, 'Not today, not today, not today. I person to support connected going,'" Austin Appelbee told Australia's ABC News.

Austin and his family, including his ma Joanne Appelbee and his 2 younger siblings, said they were connected a formation travel connected Jan. 30 and had taken a kayak and 2 inflatable stand-up paddleboards retired into the ocean. They said they had planned to enactment retired successful the h2o for astir an hour.

Initially, the household said the water was calm but past the upwind abruptly changed and their kayak flipped implicit and started to instrumentality connected water.

Appelbee said astatine first, she tried to tow the 2 paddleboards and her 2 younger children but aft the kayak began filling with water, she decided to nonstop Austin up and paddle to enactment to get help.

"In the beginning, it was, 'We're going to beryllium good and Austin is going to marque it back,'" Appelbee said. "As clip went on, I was like, 'Why haven't I seen anyone come?'"

Austin, who archetypal learned to aquatics astatine the property of 4, said helium focused connected blessed thoughts similar reasoning astir his household and friends and his favourite Thomas the Tank Engine character.

"I was conscionable reasoning successful my head, like, reasoning I was going to marque it through. But I was besides reasoning astir each my friends astatine school," Austin recalled.

Austin said helium initially started traveling to enactment with the kayak but portion warring waves, helium decided to wantonness it and aquatics by himself.

"And past finally, I conscionable made it to shore. I conscionable collapsed," helium said.

After arriving connected shore, Austin said helium past had to tally for different mile down the formation to get his family's telephone and telephone exigency services.

"He's perfectly amazing," Appelbee said of her 13-year-old son. "Me and his dada are ace proud."

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority responded to the incidental and aboriginal provided camera footage of a rescue vessel coming to the assistance of the Appelbee family.