The 13-year-old Australian boy who swam for hours to get help for his family after they were swept out to sea has told the BBC "I didn't think I was a hero - I just did what I did".
Austin Appelbee didn't know if his mother Joanne, brother Beau and sister Grace were still alive when he finally reached the shore, four hours after he left them clinging to two paddleboards.
Miles out to sea off Australia's west coast - the waves getting bigger, the light beginning to fade - his mother feared he too may not have made it.
Only hours later - after Joanne finally spotted the rescue boat in the distance - did she know he was safe. By that time she and the children had drifted 14km (8.5 miles) offshore.
"I had assumed Austin hadn't made it," Joanne, 47, told the BBC News channel.
