Leah Stewart, a 34-year-old mother, has revealed that thoughts of her 18-month-old daughter, August, guided the split-second decisions she made while fighting to stay alive after a shark attack. She was mauled while swimming between the flags at a beach, with her daughter being looked after by friends on the sand.
Attack and Rescue
The attack happened during a morning swim. Charlie Verco, a championship paddleboarder, pulled Leah from the water before beachgoers and emergency crews raced to stop the bleeding. She was taken to St Vincent's Hospital in a life-threatening condition with multiple bites to her arms and legs, fractured bones and deep lacerations.
Doctors were forced to amputate her left arm, while serious tendon and nerve damage initially left her unable to use her remaining arm. Leah spent 12 days in intensive care and underwent a series of operations after sand and debris entered her wounds, creating a severe risk of infection. She was initially placed on life support and kept under heavy sedation.
Recovery and Reunion
Her family later revealed she had stabilised, regained consciousness and was able to communicate sooner than expected. One of the most emotional moments of her recovery came when she was reunited with August for the first time since the attack. Leah remembered the ordeal in detail but initially concentrated on resting and preparing for further surgery and extensive rehabilitation.
Subsequent family updates said she had endured difficult days and sleepless nights but was drawing strength from the extraordinary support she had received. The primary school teacher faces a lengthy recovery as she works towards returning to life as a mum.
Gratitude and Wider Impact
Leah has expressed her gratitude to the surf lifesaver who reached her, the people who helped on the beach, emergency responders and the medical teams who treated her. Details of her account have been teased ahead of her first in-depth TV interview with Australia's 60 Minutes, with the mum saying she "fought like hell", as reported by TV Blackbox.
The attack on 13 June at Coogee Beach in Sydney, Australia, was followed by an expansion of shark-spotting drones along the New South Wales coastline. Since 1 July, drones have been deployed at 70 beaches, including every Sydney beach between Palm Beach and Cronulla. A fundraiser launched last month to support the mum through her recovery has raised over £291,000.
