Australian 13-year-old Austin Appelbee kayaked alone, then swam 4km in open water, then ran 2km to find help after his mother and younger siblings became stranded off the Australian coast.
His actions saved his mother Joanne, 47, brother Beau, 12, and sister Grace, but while most secular papers focused on the teenager's bravery, other TV and radio broadcasts told a slightly different story.
The young hero, whose actions saved the lives of his family, told reporters, 'I don't think it was me. It was God all the time.'
During the hours he spent paddling in his kayak, then swimming after his board became waterlogged, Appelbee said he kept thinking positively about happy things, including prayer and Christian songs.
He said, 'I didn't think I was a hero — I just did what I did.' During the two hours it took him to swim, he said he kept on 'praying and praying'. When he felt like giving up, he said he kept telling himself, 'Not today; I have to keep going.'
Appelbee, who had recently failed his swimming assessment because he couldn't swim 350 metres continuously, had to ditch his lifejacket before he swam two nautical miles to shore and then, when his legs almost buckled on the sand, he ran another 2km to call emergency services.
Appelbee's mom and two siblings were found around 8:30 p.m. local time, according to police. They were about 14km, about 7.5 nautical miles, offshore when they were located.
A GoFundMe has been started 'as a gesture from the community to recognise an extraordinary act by an ordinary Aussie kid who stepped up when it mattered most.'
