Great White Attack Survivor Says Heart Stopped After Mauling

A Sydney mother who survived a terrifying shark attack has disclosed just how narrowly she escaped death.

Leah Stewart, a 35-year-old teacher, was swimming inside the flagged area at Coogee Beach in Sydney’s eastern suburbs on June 13 when she was attacked by a shark believed to be a great white.

The injuries left her in a coma for two weeks and required several operations, including the amputation of her arm below the elbow.

Speaking to 2GB breakfast presenter Ben Fordham on Wednesday, Ms Stewart said she only recently learned that her heart had stopped while she was being taken to an ambulance and emergency crews performed CPR.

She has since been reunited with the lifesavers who rushed to help after paddleboarder Charlie Verco pulled her from the water and brought her to shore.

Ms Stewart said the lifesavers were stunned when they saw her again.

“They couldn’t believe I was the same person,” she said. “They asked, ‘How are you speaking? How are you walking? How are you here?’ They honestly didn’t think I would make it to hospital — and I very nearly didn’t.”

During the attack, Ms Stewart feared she would die but drew strength from the thought of returning to her one-year-old daughter, August.

“I kept thinking, ‘You have to give everything to get back to her,’” Ms Stewart said.

She said the ordeal became even more difficult once she reached the beach. Having lost a significant amount of blood, she struggled to breathe.

“I think there were five to 10 minutes when I couldn’t breathe, and I knew that if I passed out, I probably wouldn’t wake up,” she said.

“So I held my breath and kept telling myself, ‘You cannot give up, because you won’t get back to her.’”

Three months on, Ms Stewart is still adjusting to her new life and re-learning to do simple everyday tasks.

Her fiancé Fernando still helps with many of those tasks such as doing her hair, getting dressed and brushing her teeth.

‘It’s really hard for me at the moment. What people don’t see is that I have to sleep or be lying down most of the day,’ Ms Stewart said.

‘I’ll do one of these events to come and see people, and then I’m out for the rest of the day. So I’m just building up my energy at the moment. I was very excited, just this week, I made my own coffee.’

Last week, Ms Stewart returned to hospital for a skin graft on an open wound on her left leg, which has required a small machine to remove fluid. 

‘At the moment, my leg is still open,’ she told Fordham.

‘If you imagine a surfboard and you see a bite taken out of it by a shark, that’s what my leg looked like.

‘When I was on the beach that day, everyone was more concerned about my leg than my arm. But because you can’t see it, people don’t talk about it.’

Ms Stewart hopes to eventually return to primary teaching and might visit Hurstville Adventist School to see her pupils and colleagues as early as this week.

‘It’s a really hard one because I’m still trying to figure out how to approach it with the kids because it’s a bit of a scary sort of subject, and they all know what’s happened,’ she said.

‘I would love to give them some encouragement that you can get through hard things. Because for me, this felt impossible.’

The avid swimmer admitted that she doesn’t know if she will ever return to the ocean.

‘I’m not planning to go in the ocean, but I would love to get back to swimming in a pool because for me, that is my happy place,’ Ms Stewart said.

‘I’ve been doing it since I was six months old, and it’s how I can get stronger. I don’t know about the ocean. If the drones are up and there’s a shark net, maybe yeah, eventually.’

Earlier this week, Ms Stewart shared a heartwarming photo of herself holding her daughter August’s hand during a walk. 

‘I truly count myself lucky. I’ve still got a hand to hold hers,’ she said.

‘I’m slower now, but that means more time to stop and explore every ant, flower or leaf we pass.

‘I missed a few months with her but get to spend the rest of my life appreciating every moment we do have.’