Hotel penalised after Appelbee family swept out to sea on paddleboards and kayak in West Australia
The hotel failed to raise the alarm when a mother and three children were stranded for hours in rough conditions.
A hotel which failed to raise the alarm when a Perth family became lost at sea has been hit with penalties following a WorkSafe investigation.
Austin Appelbee, 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 on January 30.
After the incident, WorkSafe confirmed it was making inquiries with Club Wyndham in Dunsborough, 2.5 hours south of Perth, where the family had been staying and signed out watersport recreation gear.
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The hotel had provided the family with a kayak and paddleboards but didn’t notice the Appelbees hadn’t returned despite them being gone for nine hours.
WorkSafe has told 7NEWS it has issued compliance notices to the hotel.
The hotel has been banned from providing water equipment to guests, 7NEWS understands.
It must comply before it can lend out aquatic equipment again.
The Appelbee’s story garnered international attention with the schoolboy’s call to Triple-0 after his mammoth effort to get to shore released by WA Police last week, revealing his calm and collected nature amid the chaos.
The composed teen explained they had been on paddleboards and a kayak when they were taken out to sea, and how his mum had trusted him to get help because they were in “major trouble”.
“We couldn’t get back to shore, and mum told me to go back to get help,” he said.
“I haven’t seen them since. I think they’re kilometres out in sea.
“I think we need a helicopter to go find them.”
His heroic effort sparked a major search and his family were found floating in the ocean, 14km from land, about 8.30pm on January 30.
Austin’s efforts have been praised far and wide with even WA Police Minister Reece Whitby lining him up for a job.
“Austin, remarkable bravery, determination, commitment for such a young man,” Whitby said at the time.
“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.
Originally published on 7NEWS
