“It’s been overwhelming, it’s absolutely amazing”: Joanne Appelbee reacts to fundraiser surpassing $40K

The mum of Austin Appelbee — the 13-year-old who captured global attention for his extraordinary bravery off the coast of Quindalup — has spoken of her overwhelming gratitude with hundreds of people raising more than $40,000 to honour her son’s heroism. Austin made international headlines after swimming 4km to shore and running another 2km to raise the alarm for his family, who were stranded at sea on a paddleboard. His bravery and determination ultimately saved the lives of his mum, brother and sister. A GoFundMe page was launched by Tasmanian man James Bennett, a stranger to the family, with an initial goal of $7,500. The fundraiser has since surged beyond $40,000 as donations continue to pour in. Ms Appelbee said the family has not yet decided how the money will be used, though the children have already floated the idea of visiting their grandma in Ireland. “It is an extremely fantastic gesture, I’m still trying to gather all the information behind it, because it’s been overwhelming and not expected, and it’s absolutely amazing,” she said. “I think we might just put it in a trust for the kids, to help with their future. “Austin has two more siblings that hung on for dear life there, that I was majorly proud of as well.” Since the rescue, Ms Appelbee said the children have recently been back in the water. “They’ve gotten back into a swimming pool, which I didn’t think would happen as quick, so I was delighted.” In the aftermath, Austin has been praised globally for his incredible bravery and selflessness, in his efforts to save the lives of his mum, brother and sister, but Ms Appelbee said some parts of the story have been taken out of context. “Obviously, it doesn’t make us feel very good,” she said. “He’s a 13-year-old boy, people are taking it out of context.” “I didn’t expect it to go global like that. So that was definitely hard to take, and of course, with that, you get a lot of backlash. “You also get a lot of false things put out on Facebook and in the media. No, he has not met King Charles. That’s not on the cards. He hasn’t gotten all these scholarships that people think he has. “The thing is, the people who are commenting on it were not in that situation. Sometimes it’s best to just keep your opinions where they should lie.” Ms Appelbee said the family is now focused on getting back to everyday routines. “We’re doing little bits at home. We’re all back to school and back to work,” she said. “Some people have been absolutely amazing. We’ve got plenty of people that have offered to cook meals and to help out, so it’s been beautiful in that way.” But behind the scenes, the emotional aftermath has been difficult to navigate. “It’s hard enough trying to get through it all. It’s hard enough watching the sunset every evening and there is an awful lot of emotion there,” Ms Appelbee said. “People don’t see the aftermath of what you deal with as well. Just the emotion itself of different times and different triggers that affects all of us differently. “I know one of mine is definitely sunset, because that’s when I kind of went, ‘well, it’s now too late — nobody’s raised the alarm’. Austin hasn’t made it and the hotel hasn’t raised the alarm, we won’t survive the cold overnight. “That’s why every evening, I kind of lock myself away, I don’t want to be out in the sunset, I don’t need to see it go down.”