A shark attack survivor has spoken publicly after Australians demanded action against a radio team accused of questioning her traumatic account.
Leah Stewart, 35, survived a terrifying great white shark attack while swimming between the flags at Sydney’s Coogee Beach on June 13.
Ms Stewart, who lost part of her left arm in the mauling, broke her silence during an interview with Channel Nine’s 60 Minutes on Sunday night and also appeared on the UK breakfast program Good Morning Britain.
Her television appearances prompted a wave of cruel online commentary, with some trolls questioning why she appeared composed while discussing such a devastating ordeal.
The backlash intensified after Fox FM’s Brendan Fevola, Nick Cody and fill-in host Kate Langbroek cast doubt on parts of her story, with Fevola suggesting Ms Stewart was “adding mayo” to some details.
Many Australians quickly rallied behind Ms Stewart, calling for the radio trio to face serious disciplinary consequences and to apologise for their remarks.
On Wednesday night, Ms Stewart shared her first message since the comments were made, posting a response on Instagram.
“I want to be a bit vulnerable here,” she wrote.
Leah Stewart, 35, is lucky to be alive after she was mauled by a great white shark while swimming between the flags at Sydney’s Coogee Beach on June 13
‘Watching my Good Morning Britain interview, you may have noticed how calm I seemed describing the attack, the host even said it looked like I had no PTSD.
‘Truthfully, I still feel disconnected from it, almost like it happened in a dream. I think that’s my mind protecting me while I begin processing it.
‘I’m very early in that process, but wanted to give a snapshot of where I’m at. Truthfully I’m a bit scared to move past this current state of mind.’
In her interview with 60 Minutes, Ms Stewart described going into survival mode as she thought about her one-year-old daughter August, detailed how she decided which arm to use to punch the shark and recalled staring into the predator’s ‘black little beady eyes’.
‘She’s not going to have a mum. She’s going to grow up without a mum,’ she recalled thinking, which became a turning point and she fought back even harder.
‘I twisted myself around, and I just started punching it over and over and over again, just punch, punch, punch,’ Ms Stewart said.
‘It was like fighting a dinosaur, it was so big. It was like punching a brick wall.
‘I was like, “You ugly f***er, you are not taking me away from my daughter.”
Ms Stewart has shared her first message since the comments were made, taking to Instagram on Wednesday night
‘I… just felt like everything was leaving my body and I was going somewhere,’ she said.
‘Just as I was about to reach the end of the tunnel, I got a vision of August. I just knew I couldn’t leave her.
‘I said “I can’t die right now, I can’t.” I know it sounds strange, but I sort of willed myself back.
‘And I opened my eyes and I could see everyone around me at that point.’
Langbroek, Fevola and Cody questioned whether Ms Stewart would have had ‘time to think’ during the horrifying attack.
Former AFL star Fevola went even further, accusing Ms Stewart of putting ‘a lot of mayo on’ – or embellishing – her account, and described his initial reaction as believing she was lying.
The comments come as Fevola and his co-hosts desperately seek publicity for their show after suffering a sharp ratings slump, with Fox FM’s breakfast audience share tumbling from 10 per cent to 8.9 per cent in the latest Melbourne radio survey.
‘Stay with me here… I’ve never been in this position and I wouldn’t understand what would go on, but if a shark was attacking you, you wouldn’t have much time to think,’ Fevola said.
Fevola went accused Ms Stewart of putting ‘a lot of mayo on’ – or embellishing – her account, and described his initial reaction as believing she was lying
Langbroek cut in: ‘No, most people say you don’t even know what’s happening.’
The trio replayed part of Ms Stewart’s interview in which she recalled coming face-to-face with the shark and, in the moment before it bit her, deciding to hit it with her left arm because it was the arm she was more ‘willing to lose’.
‘I was on the couch with my wife Alex going, “She’s lying! Too much time to think!” You’re not thinking all that, are you?’ Fevola said.
Co-host Langbroek, who was filling in for regular presenter Fifi Box, then tried to defend Ms Stewart.
‘Mercifully, we don’t know,’ she cautioned Fevola.
‘But it does seem unusual. The only other person I know who’s punched a shark is (professional surfer) Mick Fanning.
‘He said at the time he didn’t even have a chance to think about what he was doing, it was like a reflex.’
But Fevola still believed Ms Stewart was embellishing the story.
Ms Stewart (pictured with her one-year-old daughter, August) remembers large parts of the attack, including the moment she punched the great white shark in the face
‘Come on, oh right or left? Like bro, you are amazing – you punched a shark in the face and survived – but you’re not thinking all that. That’s a lot of mayo,’ he said.
Fevola conceded that he was petrified of sharks.
‘Had I been in the same position, I would have had a heart attack and would have been eaten,’ he said.
Many accused the trio of ‘poor form’, while others called for the breakfast presenters to be sacked.
‘Let’s add to her trauma and grief by undermining the magnitude of her experience,’ one listener wrote.
‘How utterly strong and brave is the inner spirit and fighting will in this survivor to will herself to live for her child and loved ones.
‘There is a hard lifelong road ahead of her and she is a battler. Why do these utter degenerates have a platform to spout their garbage in the first place. Fire them pronto.’
