{"id":83587,"date":"2026-08-30T23:32:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T23:32:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/83587\/"},"modified":"2026-08-30T23:32:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T23:32:15","slug":"sydney-shark-attack-survivor-leah-stewart-reveals-how-she-fought-back-against-four-metre-great-white-at-coogee-beach-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/83587\/","title":{"rendered":"Sydney shark attack survivor Leah Stewart reveals how she fought back against four-metre great white at Coogee Beach"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sydney mother Leah Stewart has spoken publicly for the first time about the shark attack that left her fighting for her life at New South Wales’ Coogee Beach.<\/p>\n

The 34-year-old was swimming near the shore on June 13<\/a> when she was attacked by a four-metre great white shark, suffering catastrophic injuries that ultimately resulted in the amputation of her left arm.<\/p>\n

Ms Stewart spent weeks in a critical condition in hospital and underwent almost a dozen surgeries, including a skin graft on her thigh.<\/p>\n

Speaking with 60 Minutes, Ms Stewart revealed new details of the attack, including the moment she came face-to-face with the shark and the desperate fight that followed.<\/p>\n

She said the thought of her young daughter August growing up without a mother was what drove her to fight for her life.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m the woman that fought like hell to be here, to be here for August, and it was the hardest thing in the world, but I fought my way out of there,\u201d Ms Stewart told Nine’s Tracy Grimshaw.<\/p>\n

Ms Stewart said she had always been mindful of the risks when swimming in open water and did what she could to be safe.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would never swim at sunrise or sunset, only on crystal clear days,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cStaying really close to shore, that\u2019s something I sort of tried to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the day of the attack, she was swimming back to shore when she heard screams in the water.<\/p>\n

\u201cI heard a girl behind me just scream, kind of like a shrill shriek, and I turned and there was a huge, huge fin behind her, it was massive,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI stopped and I could feel movement in the water, and I turned around and it was right there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The animal moved towards her with its mouth open before stopping just centimetres from her face.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will never forget its face,” Ms Stewart said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was huge and its teeth and its mouth was massive and its eyes, it\u2019s just black little beady eyes, we were just looking face to face.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a monster.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the shark directly in front of her, Ms Stewart made the incredible decision to fight back.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it was holding on to my leg I had the thought, \u2018this is it, this is how I die\u2019,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Her thoughts quickly turned to her daughter August, who was on the sand with family members.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen I just thought of August and I thought, \u2018she\u2019s not going to have a mum,\u201d Ms Stewart said through tears.<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t handle that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to do everything I can to be here\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou ugly f***er, you\u2019re not taking me away from my daughter\u201d. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Ms Stewart said she could feel the shark shaking her but twisted her body around and punched the animal’s snout as hard as she could. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI just started punching it over and over and over again, just punch, punch, punch,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was like fighting a dinosaur, it was so big.<\/p>\n

“It was like punching a brick wall.”<\/p>\n

The attack left Ms Stewart with devastating injuries to both arms and her left leg<\/a>.<\/p>\n

She was pulled from the water by world champion paddleboarder Charlie Verco, before being treated on the beach by surf lifesaver Ben Heenan and frontline trauma specialist Dr Ian Ferguson.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With Ms Stweart having lost a significant amount of blood, doctors struggled to establish conventional intravenous access.<\/p>\n

Dr Ferguson used an emergency procedure to deliver fluids and blood directly to bone marrow in her shoulders.<\/p>\n

She was then rushed to St Vincent\u2019s Hospital in a critical condition where a team of surgeons worked to save her life.<\/p>\n

Her condition was so extreme that she was categorised as “not being compatible with life”.<\/p>\n

For ten days after the attack, Ms Stewart\u2019s family waited, not knowing if she would survive.<\/p>\n

Last week, Ms Stewart shared a powerful message to her GoFundMe page<\/a>, which was set up by her brother following the attack.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ms Stewart said she felt she had been given a “second chance at life” and was finally seeing “some light”.<\/p>\n

“After what has been an incredibly difficult few months, I\u2019m so happy that I\u2019ve progressed enough to build some independence, and I can finally see some light after all of this,” she wrote on the fundraiser.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She issued a heartfelt thanks to those who had donated.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I\u2019ve been actively trying to do everything in my power to get back to some sort of normal life,” Ms Stewart said.<\/p>\n

“I still have a long way to go, but my recovery has been remarkable, and a huge part of that is because of the absolute army of love, support, prayers and encouragement surround my family and I from all over the world.<\/p>\n

“That means more to me than I can say, and I truly believe it\u2019s played a huge role in my recovery.<\/p>\n

“Once again, I don\u2019t feel like I can say thank you enough.”<\/p>\n

Ms Stewart said she had turned off donations on the page, given she had raised enough for her recovery and future medical expenses.<\/p>\n

The page had raised more than half-a-million dollars in donations at the time of closure.<\/p>\n

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