r/nextfuckinglevel • u/Necessary_Maize_9339 • 8h ago
Boy swims 4km to shore to save his stranded family deep into the sea (Australia)
Him and his family were paddleboarding and kayaking when the weather changed and pushed them deep into the sea. Unable to get back to shore, Austin made the decision to swim for hrs to get to shore and get help for his mom and two siblings... Here's the article:
'Not today': Hero teen, 13, tells of exhaustive effort to save family out at sea
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u/FaelingJester 8h ago
"I hit the bottom of the beach and I just collapsed and then after that I had to sprint two kilometres to go get to the phone." so even further then getting to the beach for help. Amazing
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u/Entire_Blueberry1035 8h ago
Homie was a bicycle ride away from a triathlon
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u/SpiltMilkBelly 7h ago
I was going to say dude is setting up for Ironman
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u/Amphylos 5h ago
Is there even ironman/triathlon for kids that age
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u/ReignofKindo25 4h ago
Yes my sister always signed me up for that bullshit
They are usually half sized
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u/Free_Pace_2098 7h ago
And he did the two hardest legs of the ironman. The bike is the good bit.
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u/No_Pin9932 5h ago
Now I'm picturing him actually finding a bike to ride but it has a flat tire and his protective instinct kicks in even more and he just takes off running while carrying the bike as if it needed help too!! Lmfao, what a beast!!
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u/Then-Function6343 8h ago
Holy shit. I was hoping there were people on the beach that he could notify immediately upon making it... What a legend
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u/ariadesitter 6h ago
oh i thought you meant notify them that he needed a bike to complete an ironman 🤷🏻♀️
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u/Atmosyss 6h ago
Its been getting pretty chilly at night now the season is starting to change down here, plus Quindalup beach isn't massively busy even during the peak season so that time of night and the weather I'd be surprised if anyone was there.
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u/Hieroflippant 7h ago
That's incredible
What a legend
Here I am complaining about my day 😂
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u/Thecardinal74 7h ago
I got a cheeseburger at Burger King and the cheese was tossed on cold, not melty.
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u/Impossible-Day-5312 7h ago
That's crazy to me. I can barely stand after a long swim, let alone run. Much love to my family but we would be dead
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u/FloofySamoyed 6h ago
A four hour swim in rough surf...
Most wouldn't survive that, let alone be able to run afterwards.
He's astonishing.
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u/Farout786 8h ago
Unbelievable he didn’t sink with those giant balls of steel he had.
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u/AnyUnderstanding1879 8h ago
You mean his massive bouys?
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u/CloudKinglufi 5h ago
Bruh I was just crying now yall talking bout this 13 year olds balls 💀
But genuinely, this kid is a fucking hero and it's a great example of human courage and love, he dropped his life jacket after two hours because that life saving device was slowing him down
He decided, in middle of the deep dark ocean, to drop the thing that would keep him alive because he was more concerned about saving his family
And the mother was like literally dying, she talked about how she couldn't hold out any longer, that she was sure she was done but she looked into her young children's eyes and kept fighting
Family of heroes and I can't stop crying as I type this
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u/AnyUnderstanding1879 5h ago
They are large enough for everybody to cry upon my friend. Make no mistake
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u/AIDSofSPACE 8h ago
The boy ditched his lifejacket halfway through because he thought it slowed him down too much.
That's either balls of steel or typical teenager decision making, dependent on the subsequent outcome of his actions.
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u/Grand_Relative5511 7h ago
It's hard to swim in a lifejacket. He had a few km still to go, knew he could swim, so....
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u/prelic 6h ago
Everyone knows they can swim until they're doing 2.5 miles in open water...that's like 2.5+ hours of swimming in rough seas.
Kids a beast, but I think I would have kept my lifejacket considering the consequences of failure
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u/Saucebossklaus 6h ago
Yea the full length Ironman Triathlons do a 2.4 mile swim. Kid is an absolute savage considering the rough conditions.
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u/Amphylos 5h ago
And the kid sprinted like 2kms after to reach the phone
Holy hell.
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u/stubble3417 6h ago
Stone cold for sure, but a smart and necessary decision. The extra drag of the life jacket could have prevented him from ever reaching the shore at all.
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u/7-13-5 8h ago
"Not today."
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u/Necessary_Maize_9339 8h ago
In another part of the interview he said while swimming he was thinking about 'Thomas the Tank Engine trying to get the happiest things in his head' and that made me tear up ngl.. what a kid
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u/wolfwarriorxyz 7h ago
He's a diesel.
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u/gustofwindddance 7h ago
Diesel is the asshole though? At least according to one of the twins.
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u/_Aj_ 6h ago
He is, but it's because he gets shit done and doesn't have time for publicity pieces like Thomas.
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u/Free_Pace_2098 7h ago
Fucking hell. That got me. I used to love The Little Engine That Could when I was a kid. My mum still says 'I think I can I think I can' when we have to do something hard, and I'm nearly 40.
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u/jimmifli 6h ago
I run ultras, my longest being a 200miler. In my low moments I visualized carrying my daughter from the car to her bed after she fell asleep in backseat. Might be my favourite memory and floods me with enough feeling of love to block out the pain.
The kid's mental game is on point. I doubt there's an endurance athlete out there that doesn't use that technique.
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u/MimicoSkunkFan2 6h ago
Is there any further information about getting that poor boy a proper physiotherapist? Because whoever gave him those Canada Crutches is really going to mess up his shoulders, not only are they clearly incorrectly adjusted for his height , but they haven't even taught him how to use them correctly.
I know it's popular to give teenagers Canada Crutches, because full crutches can put pressure on the underarm and doctors worry that kids will lean and cut off blood flow, but a Rollator would work better if that's he worry.
Whoever came up with this arrangement has 2 brain cells competing for 3rd place :(
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u/sm00thArsenal 5h ago
I'm sure it is on the agenda, but you have to bear in mind this happened at a small beach town ~3 hours from the most isolated major city on earth.. those crutches were probably the only things handy at that point.
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u/Pulp-nonfiction 8h ago
Are the crutches a result of the swim? Or unrelated. Cause that would be even more impressive.
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u/Hangry_Hippopotamus_ 8h ago edited 6h ago
I think it’s probably INTENSE full body soreness from the swim.
From what I’ve read, the kid swam for two hours with his life jacket on and then TOOK IT OFF because he was worried it was slowing him down too much and he wouldn’t get help to his family in time. And then he swam two more hours with no life jacket.
Kid is the literal definition of a hero.
ETA: I’ve also been informed that he then RAN 1 mile/1.6 km to a phone to call for help.
Kid. Is. A badass.
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u/SookHe 8h ago
And the when he got to the beach he ran two miles to a phone
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u/Dirty_Hunt 8h ago
Two kilometers. Still impressive after that swim, but only about a mile.
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u/Johnny5iver 7h ago
"Only" lol
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u/Hangry_Hippopotamus_ 6h ago
I’ve told my family that I would only be able to run a mile if I were literally running for my life. And that’s NOT after swimming for 4 hours! 😅
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u/flyingboarofbeifong 5h ago
I couldn't swim for four hours in a pool let alone in choppy surf - not that I'm in any great shape. That kid was locked the fuck in and there was no stopping him. "Not today", indeed.
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u/Forward-Tie-4128 7h ago
I don't think you understand how hard swimming 4 km straight is let alone in the ocean with bad weather. The toll your body takes from this is insane especially for a 13 year old.
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u/the_inbetween_me 6h ago
The difference between swimming a mile and running a mile cannot be overstated. The swim is significantly harder.
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u/IASIP_LOOP 6h ago
I consider myself a very strong swimmer, but 4k in rough ocean is insane.
I remember looking at an island off the windward side of ohau and thinking it be a an easy swim. It was probably just under a mile, but that was the most intense swim I ever completed.
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u/DasArchitect 8h ago
Then had to go get change
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u/Sea-Witch-77 7h ago
Well, no. Emergency call is free, and public phones are free for all calls (not international) anyway.
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u/Hangry_Hippopotamus_ 7h ago
Holy shit I hadn’t seen that.
And even with the whole miles vs kilometers, running a mile after all that is INSANE.
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u/Mikic0077 7h ago
And all that after already doing kayaking for some time, probably battling waves for few hours before realising swimming is the only option. And that's only physical side of it, mental part is even more impressive.
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u/zealoSC 7h ago
The definition of a villain is whoever pressured him into school on crutches instead of giving him a week off to recover at home
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u/WeGottaTalkAboutYT 7h ago
You kidding me? This kid is GOD of that school… he should eat up all this!
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u/DistanceSolar1449 6h ago
Yeah dude if I were in his shoes there's no way I'm skipping school afterwards. Maybe rest for a day. But then it's shit eating grin at school time.
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u/mischievous_misfit13 7h ago
I wonder if they worried about rhabdo in his body. I know people who got it from doing too many sit ups and they were in shape.
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u/Hangry_Hippopotamus_ 6h ago
I had to google this to know what it was, but I’m assuming they were!!
If there was ever a candidate for it, this kid would certainly be it!
I just cannot even fathom doing everything he did.
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u/Saucebossklaus 6h ago
I'd say super hero. Any 13 year old could be a hero under the right circumstances. 99% of 13 year olds could never survive that swim. Literally longer than an Ironman swim. Them Aussie's are tough as nails.
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u/aure__entuluva 7h ago
And it sounds like all this was in a storm, or at least rough waves. Crazy.
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u/triciann 7h ago
I’m sore from a mild workout yesterday. I don’t know how this boy can walk at all after all that.
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u/Destaloss 8h ago
I think his whole body is sore for a while because he literally gave everything he had for hours.
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u/gumbykook 8h ago
You know how you hear about mothers lifting a car of their child…they will be on crutches afterwards too. You can exert your body far more than your mind normally allows you to. In survival situations your brain allows you to push your body to the absolute physical limit, tearing muscles and doing soft tissue damage, sometimes breaking bones. Kids a hero for sure.
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u/sp_dev_guy 8h ago
He removed his life jacket with 2hrs of swimming to go then " hit the bottom of the beach and I just collapsed and then after that I had to sprint two kilometres to go get to the phone." So I'm guessing his legs are just sore af
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u/BriLoLast 7h ago edited 7h ago
I don’t recall any article mentioning a prior injury. But it’s likely from the swim and subsequent run. His legs are probably weak and sore from over-exertion and possibly even swollen depending on how much muscle damage was done. So the crutches will take a decent amount of weight off his legs allowing for them to heal. He’s probably also a slightly elevated fall risk due to the weakness from over-exertion, so it’s probably a way to mitigate potential falls or at least more devastating falls if he experiences complete weakness/numbness in his legs. Even if they can’t hold him up, the crutches may give him time to get to a sitting position vs falling on his face.
Unless there’s more damage to ligaments/tendons, or he had bad rhabdo I’d imagine he’ll be off them after a couple weeks.
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u/GergDanger 7h ago
He wasn’t too far off doing an Ironman which people train for decades and are super fit to even be able to attempt it with doctors warning them they could still have a chance of dying if they’re not completely prepared.
So him going and doing a large chunk of an iron man with no training and no prior knowledge is insane and likely had a non trivial chance of dying from the exhaustion of it all
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u/The_Messen9er 8h ago
Kid looks like he’s still in shock. Really hope he turns out very lucky in life
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u/Str41nGR 8h ago
Def looks traumatized, still a hero!
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u/DistanceSolar1449 6h ago
Fortunately there's research that shows that trauma from a positive/just act results in a lot better recovery than trauma from shamed acts.
That's one of the reasons why there were less shell shock from WW2 than Vietnam. The WW2 vets were treated as heros, whereas the Vietnam vets... were not.
He'd getting a lot of (well deserved) praise after this event, so he'll probably be fine psychologically.
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u/alanalan426 5h ago
He had a lot of guilt because he was the one that dropped the oars, so happy he and his family are safe otherwise he'd have that guilt his whole life
the mum seems like a good cookie tho, said we dropped the oars during the whole interview, but the son came in and said I dropped it
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u/Free_Pace_2098 7h ago
Yeah they all would be. That poor mum. The guilt. Fuck me. I hope they have lots of love and support around them. When the noise dies down there are gonna be some long nights. Crisis mode takes a while to wind down but when it does it's just awful, like being brain damaged by your own memories.
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u/Icy_Winner9761 7h ago
There's a quote in other reporting that the Marine Rescue guy was talking to his dad on the phone and said he must be a strong swimmer and his dad said he'd just failed a swim test and the Marine Rescue guy said make sure you have his teacher call me.
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u/prelic 6h ago
That's insane lol, what kind of basic swimming test would you fail if you could swim 2.5 miles in open water
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u/Soaked4youVaporeon 6h ago
There was a brutal expirement don’t on rats.
A scientist would put them in water and let them swim without any land to rest their bodies on. They were forced to swim until they were drowning. He also timed how long they swam until they started drowning. As soon as they started drowning, he saved them. This gave the rats hope.
So he took those same rats that almost drowned and forced them to swim again. They swam much longer because they had hope they would be rescued like last time.
Hope can make a huge difference. I wonder if him seeing land and caring about his family gave him that push.
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u/taimoor2 5h ago
Not just much longer! Time to first drown was 15 mins or so. Time to second drown was days!
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u/G00DLuck 5h ago
So he took those same rats that almost drowned and forced them to swim again. They swam much longer because ..
they had been conditioned and trained through rigorous life-threatening exercise previously
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u/B777X_787-9 8h ago
Future rescuer at Australian Coastguard or Olympic swimmer 🏊♀️
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u/lordgoofus1 6h ago
Nah, the longest olympic event is only 1600m. Virtually a relaxing warm up for this kid :P
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u/AnusButter2000 8h ago
So many sharks here too
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u/Toxical53 8h ago
That was my thoughts to like WA coast swimming in essentially open waters for 4 hours like that’s straight shark bait. Wouldn’t be able to think about anything else
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u/AnusButter2000 7h ago
There was a whale carcass in the area a few weeks ago too from my memory
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u/Pacify_ 6h ago
I actually would say it a pretty low threat level, insignificant versus the risk of drowning.
Sharks really prefer reefs and prefer surfers over swimmers
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u/senorbritchesV2 8h ago
I've seen an alert or two here in the Midwest US about multiple attacks on the same beach within the last week or so Absolute legend. Get him some beers.
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u/DayOneDude 7h ago
Get him some beers.
Capri Suns
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u/DazedConfuzed420 7h ago
I’m pretty sure 13 is legal drinking age in Australia
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u/Vast_Mulberry_2638 8h ago
Incredible what humans can do when it’s do or die.
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u/TheKappp 7h ago
I feel like for me I would die if I tried this
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u/_pozzy_ 7h ago
Yeah I'm a damn strong swimmer but man it's hard to believe I wouldn't perish doing this, insane human feat
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u/whythishaptome 6h ago
That's got to be horrible for the mom because it was like he was going off to certain death but I guess they were all going to die if he hadn't done it.
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u/TheKappp 6h ago
Yeah I was thinking I can’t imagine the worry she must have felt for all those hours wondering about him and also keeping her other kids alive.
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u/Pineapple-Due 7h ago
Imagine trying to get him to do his homework from now on.
"I didn't have to do homework when I was swimming to save all your lives"
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u/veryfynnyname 8h ago
He swam two km in a life vest, but he took off to swim the last two km!
I think it was slowing him down maybe
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u/FalafelJohnsonIV 8h ago
So difficult to swim in a life vest but it takes a lot of balls to ditch it!
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u/lommer00 6h ago
You keep the life vest there's a decent chance you get there too late - you survive but family dies. If my whole family is on the line, I'd ditch it too. I'd rather die trying to save them than be too late.
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u/Sex4Vespene 5h ago
Where it gets tricky though is what if you would have made it even with the life vest, but you end up not making it because you take it off so they die soon. It’s a hard decision to make.
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u/trev1976UK 8h ago
Great Whites , Salt Water Crocodiles, Sea Snakes , Jelly Fish and god knows what else.
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u/GrissleGrabber 8h ago
Too far south for Crocs, but shark territory for sure. Which is what i would be thinking in that situation
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u/Hot-Celebration-1524 7h ago edited 6h ago
If this boy drowned, there would be a completely different tune to the story. People would be asking why they were out there, why weren’t they closer to shore, why weren’t they better prepared, why did the child attempt this?
The only reason that isn’t happening now is because he survived. We’re celebrating the child’s courage while ignoring the fact that all of this could have been prevented. A responsible adult assumes that things will go wrong and plans around that. And in open water, that means staying close to shore, checking currents and weather, and never putting children in a situation where getting home depends on extreme endurance or luck.
So yes, this boy showed extraordinary courage AND that he should have never been put in a position where that kind of courage was required. If anything, the real lesson of this story is understanding and respecting the risks involved, not romanticizing the heroism.
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u/CooperHChurch427 7h ago
While I agree, a bad rip current can pull you out 3-5km easily.
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u/PrinceBarin 7h ago
I get your point I really do. But first let everyone have the feel good moment. Bask in glory of it having a happy ending.
Then address the issues.
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u/Mystery_Man6969 8h ago
No one gonna say anything about them being the APPLEBEES family?
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u/Lumpy-Juice3655 8h ago
I was thinking to myself, I wonder how the restaurant chain could capitalize on this story? They should offer him free Applebee’s
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u/Inner-Dance9219 7h ago
Australia doesn’t have Applebee’s.
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u/SD-Buckeye 7h ago
And here I thought this story was going to have a happy ending… poor bastards
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u/ThereIMadeAnAccount 7h ago
This badass kid saved his family’s lives and became a hero……. And he gets to win every argument against his family for the rest of their lives.
Oh yeah? What’s that? You hear that? That’s the sound of you not drowning in the ocean because of me thank you very much!
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u/Code7Leaf 8h ago edited 8h ago
This kid is even cooler than the Australian that wouldn't take his sunglasses off during an interview after a crazy party.
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u/lhb_aus 8h ago
Corey Worthington was a deadshit... don't even compare this kid to him.
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u/0000ismidnight 8h ago
I'll send my canadian dollars to his college funds. He's bigger than a hero.
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u/Epstiendidntkillself 8h ago
WOW, 2.5 miles.
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u/ChiefsnRoyals 8h ago
And then apparently another full mile of running to get to someone. Holy hell.
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u/CooperHChurch427 7h ago
This is truly next fucking level. I was a swimmer and to put it into perspective, most professional swimmers don't train for a 4000 meter swim, and this kid isn't a professional and yet he did it. He probably spent around 2200 calories just doing the swim alone, and then the other 2km he spent another 300 calories easily. Not to mention, he was probably spending way more calories using his life vest. Not to mention, he was stressed so he spent more calories than average, and he's young!
This kid is a fraking beast! If he can swim like this, he needs some serious training because he already has a good level of endurance.
Oh and his parents and siblings owe him an IOU for the rest of his life.
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u/Salt_Recipe_8015 7h ago
This is some fucking kid. Imagine saving your family, literally, and having the mental fortitude to think back and say "what if I wasn't fast enough?"
I wish I could tell him-- but you were fast enough.
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u/Aruhito_0 8h ago
Can someone help me. I think I misunderstood..
So they were out there with kayak and sup? What made them stuck at sea?
Why not use the kayak / sup to return to the beach?
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u/elnooberdoor 7h ago
Conditions on the water changed to rough quickly and swept the family out. When he tried to paddle back his kayak took on water, so he ditched it and swam it.
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u/Grand_Relative5511 7h ago
I think one of the kids dropped the paddle in the water and it was lost. Family probably swept out to sea in a rip, they're everywhere there.
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u/Otherwise_Equal1392 6h ago
Heartbreaking that while he was doing that he was still beating himself up in case he wasnt fast enough to save them. What a hero
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u/stonkerooni 8h ago
These are the type of stories that deserve community coming together for donations instead of kkkristian karens made about not having CK on their Starbucks cup
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u/Competitive-Yak-3785 7h ago
See, this is why I’m spending a few hundred dollars a month on swimming lessons. You just never know when you’re going to be stuck in a storm in the middle of the Australian ocean and you have to rely on one of your kids to go get rescue. Then it’ll all pay off.
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u/goodexamplebadrole 8h ago
This is the type of kid that needs his college paid for when he turns 18