MINI: Austin Appelbee

In this incredible episode, we're talking about a heroic story that'll leave you speechless. Thirteen-year-old Austin Appelbee's bravery in the face of danger is a testament to the human spirit. After being swept out to sea with his family, Austin makes a heart-wrenching decision to save them, swimming for hours and then running two kilometers to raise the alarm. His story is a reminder that even in the darkest moments, hope and faith can carry us through. With his mum and siblings by his side, Austin's tale of survival is a must-listen.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
I Heeart podcasts.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
You can hear more Gold one I four point three
podcast playlist and listen live on the free iHeart app.
Got anything good?

Speaker 1 (00:19):
Hey, this is.

Speaker 3 (00:21):
The Christian O'Connell Show podcast.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
All right, before we get into the rest of today's show,
this is the only story, the only thing that we
should be talking about today. And trust me, the moment
you hear this story about a young Australian called Austin
appleby an incredible name and an incredible young man, this
is heroic story, the lights of which I've never heard

(00:49):
before from someone who's thirteen. If this was a grown up,
it would still be extraordinary, but the fact it's a
young kid who's thirteen. I'll just play the news story
and then we can talk about this. But I earn
you right now, whatever you're doing, and I know you're busy,
right now, stop what you are doing actually and just
turn this story up. It is incredible and no matter

(01:12):
what you've got going on in your life right now,
this just does it retunes you to the awe and
wonder of what people can do. But this is a
young kid. He's a thirteen year old Australian. I've listened
to this.

Speaker 3 (01:25):
A brave thirteen year old boy is being praised for
saving his family from an ocean ordeal. He swam for hours,
then ran for kilometers to raise the alarm after they
were swept out to.

Speaker 4 (01:37):
Sea, barely visible against the fury of the sea. This
is where a thirteen year old boy made a near
impossible decision to leave his family in order to save them.

Speaker 5 (01:48):
I was really scared.

Speaker 6 (01:49):
I was just thinking in my head, don't thinking I
was going to make it.

Speaker 4 (01:52):
Through stranded four kilometers off the coast in Wa Southwest
for more than eight hours after rough seas swept them
out while kayaking on Friday, Austin app will be braved
fading light and dangerous waves for four hours to get
back to shore. His mum, twelve year old brother, and
eighty year old sister could only wait.

Speaker 6 (02:13):
I just said, all right, not today, not today, not today.
I had to keep on going.

Speaker 4 (02:19):
As the sun began to disappear, so did his mum's hope.

Speaker 5 (02:23):
My fear was that awsome nicking. Everything goes through your
head as one.

Speaker 4 (02:30):
But incredibly the teen did, running another two kilometers to
call for help.

Speaker 6 (02:35):
I thought they were dead. I had a lot of
guilt in my heart because you know, I thought, oh man,
I wasn't fast enough.

Speaker 4 (02:41):
Two hours later they were spotted clinging to a paddle board.
The whole family brought home safe.

Speaker 5 (02:47):
Speech ass efforts at the same time I knew he
could do it.

Speaker 1 (02:52):
Anyone else has got goosebumps.

Speaker 2 (02:53):
Yes, like a Spielberg movie, but this is real life
and it's a thirteen year old kid. There's so many
moments to actually just pause and reflect on, really, because
the story's got about five incredible moments in it. First
of all, the mum making a decision. I can't even
imagine as apparent what that would be like to send
one of your kids out into well, you've got no

(03:16):
you don't.

Speaker 1 (03:17):
Know whether they're going to make it the open seats,
so you don't know if you're.

Speaker 2 (03:20):
Ever going to see them again, or if they're going
to survive. You know, you're already worrying that actually they're
probably not gonna make it and what that means.

Speaker 1 (03:27):
Then you've got your other children there.

Speaker 2 (03:29):
You've got so much going on your own survival, their survival,
his survival. But she makes an incredible decision to actually,
ultimately that actually saved the entire family's life. But then
this young, tiny, little thirteen year old lad swims for hours.
I speak of someone who is who's winded doing a
lap of a poll. I can't imagine swimming for hours

(03:51):
in the ocean. And then he has the presence of mine.
He tries to tow his family himself back towards the shore.
He really knows he can't do that, and he has
to carry on without them and let them go and
still carry on swimming. Then he realizes and has the
incredible presence of mine and self leadership. He takes off
his life chat it because it's obviously impeding his swimming process.

(04:12):
Then he swims into a void for four ko and
off two and a half miles, and then there's a
clear weather interviewing him and it's Paul adds and no
one crutches obviously because of the exhaustion physically and mentally
that he must be going through. Because it happened Friday,
he said that what actually kept him going was their
family of faith, was that he was he was praying

(04:35):
and thinking, he would only himself think happy thoughts, happy thoughts,
which is just it almost brings tears, she wies. I
think that he knew that that's what he needed to
do to keep going, and then then he'd has to run,
so can I two kate to ring for help and
then very calmly, apparently the saying that he asked for

(04:55):
helicopters and boats to try and find his family.

Speaker 1 (04:58):
And this is his mum talking as well.

Speaker 7 (05:00):
The decision was either if I can roll back to
shore to get help quickly, or I could leave to
kit a tea. So him in the oldest and the strongest,
we said, we said, and he was quite happy going,
which was a very hard decision because you don't want
to see any your kids have to do that.

Speaker 1 (05:17):
That is I never heard a story like it, guys.

Speaker 8 (05:19):
It's remarkable. And they said it's the equivalent of running
two marathons. And when you think about how far four
kilometers is, it's eighty laps of a fifty meter pool. Now,
I can't do more than you know, five ten laps
of a fifty meter pool without stopping multiple times. He
did this without a life jacket.

Speaker 9 (05:37):
In the rough seas you are, you're all so terrified
that you are going to die and that you're never
going to see your brothers and sisters and your maum
ever again, he has to.

Speaker 1 (05:47):
Be with all of those thoughts.

Speaker 2 (05:49):
And if you've ever just gone for a little swim
in the ocean, you shouldn't. It takes a long time
to make any prograst. It does, you don't appreciate you
watch it on TV. You see the Olympians doing it
very quickly, you do it yourself. I'm mean in this
for a minute, I'm barely moving.

Speaker 1 (06:04):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (06:05):
And also that part of Australia, those are not safe waters. No, No,
there's a couple of times where he said he swore,
he swore he saw.

Speaker 1 (06:14):
Things sticking out where he's still just had to go.
That is I don't know if it goes beyond heroism.
I don't even know what to say. That story is.

Speaker 8 (06:24):
Yeah, you can barely believe it's true, and yet it's so.
It's one of the most inspiring things I've ever heard,
Like it just changes your whole perspective.

Speaker 10 (06:33):
A lot of sharks signings there too, in a lot
of sharks, especially between Dunsborough and Bustleton where this happened.
Beautiful part of the world, but very sharky. So to
be able to swim through that four kas knowing that
there's a lot of Sharks about wow Wie.

Speaker 1 (06:47):
Yeah, his name is Austin Appleby.

Speaker 2 (06:50):
I urged you to take the time today to go
and watch the interview as well. It's an amazing story.
They should do Young Australians of the Year if they
don't already, because that kid is a true Australian of
the Year.

Speaker 5 (07:03):
Christian O'Connell Shark Gone Podcast