Boy (13) hailed a hero as family rescued at sea

A 13-year-old Australian boy with Monaghan connections has been hailed a hero after he swam for four hours in rough seas off the coast of western Australia to seek help for his family.

Austin Appelbee swam around 4km - abandoning his kayak and eventually his life jacket - to raise the alarm and get help for his mum Joanne from Magheracloone, his young brother Beau (12) and little sister Grace (8) who had been swept out to sea.

Speaking on the Six One News on RTÉ yesterday evening, a proud Joanne said she was "amazed" at her son's bravery and perseverance but "knew he could do it".

The family live in Perth, Western Australia. They were on holiday and using kayaks and paddle boards hired from their hotel.

While on the water, the weather turned and they got into difficulty. Joanne said they were "dragged out very quickly" with wind and waves.

When eventually rescued, the family had been around 10 hours on the water, were more than eight miles from the shore and in pitch dark clinging to paddle boards.

Joanne said it was "one of the hardest decisions" she ever had to make to ask Austin to go for help.

Austin, who has featured on news outlets worldwide, gave some insight as to what was going through his head as he was swimming: “The waves are massive and I have no life jacket on. I just kept thinking, ‘Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.'”

“And then I finally I made it to shore and I hit the bottom of the beach and I just collapsed.”

He had been swimming for around four hours. But brave Austin got up again and ran around 2km to a phone to get help at around 6pm.

Thankfully the story had a happy ending.

"We are all back to tell the tale, so that is the main thing," said mum Joanne.

She also praised her two young children - Beau and Grace - who were "little heroes" throughout the ordeal.

"It was nothing short of a miracle that we made it," she said.

"We fell in [to the water] so many times, the waves were so high and those kids just kept holding on."

Seeing the rescue team and hearing that Austin had made it to shore was the "most fantastic feeling" .

Joanne added she hopes to see her family and friends in Monaghan "very soon".