Coogee shark attack survivor Leah Stewart has responded to widely-criticised comments made by former AFL player and radio star Brendan Fevola questioning whether her account of the attack included \u201ca lot of mayo\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have been so busy with my rehabilitation and embracing being home with my family that I haven\u2019t had a chance to listen to the segment,\u201d Ms Stewart told nine.com.au on Thursday.<\/p>\n
She said she had understood the general sentiment of the comments through news headlines but hadn\u2019t given it much thought.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I do know is that everyone who was on that beach with me, my incredible medical team at St Vincent\u2019s, and every first responder who helped save my life that day, they know what happened. And so do I.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said the support she\u2019s received from Aussies in her community and across the country has \u201cmeant so much to me and my family\u201d and \u201cfar outweighed\u201d anything else.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have chosen to put my energy where it belongs, into my recovery, into [my daughter] August, and into being grateful for the second chance at life I have been given.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a segment on his Fox FM radio show, Fevola questioned the mum\u2019s account of the attack after Ms Stewart told 60 Minutes she punched the shark over and over while fighting for her life. <\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s missing a limb, like her forearm is gone, and her other arm\u2019s got some scratches and stuff on,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never been in this position, and I wouldn\u2019t understand what would go on, but if a shark was attacking you, you wouldn\u2019t have much time to think I wouldn\u2019t have thought. <\/p>\n
\u201cI was on the couch with my wife Alex and my kids going, \u2018She\u2019s lying. Too much time to think. You\u2019re not thinking all that, are you?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t know but.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fevola told listeners he would have reacted differently.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would have had a heart attack and I would have been eaten, because I would have pooped myself,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut this tough girl punched the shark.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Sydney mum was swimming between the flags at Coogee Beach, in Sydney\u2019s east, when she was attacked by a 4 metre great white shark on June 13.<\/p>\n
Lifeguards and beachgoers rushed to her aid before she was hospitalised and placed into a coma.<\/p>\n
She underwent multiple surgeries, including a partial arm amputation, over several weeks.<\/p>\n
Recounting her experience on 60 Minutes this week, Ms Stewart recalled how she struck the shark while it had hold of her thigh and pulled her under the water.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just thought of (my daughter) August and I thought, \u2018She\u2019s not going to have a mum. She\u2019s going to grow up without a mum\u2019, and I couldn\u2019t handle that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t want her not to have a mum, so I just thought, \u2018I\u2019ve got to fight it. I\u2019m going to do everything I can to be here\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just started punching it over and over and over again, just punch, punch, punch.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was like fighting a dinosaur, it was so big. It was like punching a brick wall.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Stewart was helped to shore where trauma specialist Ian Ferguson had stopped for a coffee and rushed over to help.<\/p>\n
Dr Ferguson drilled into the bone marrow of her shoulders to get fluids and blood into her body, which has been credited with saving her life.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m here, I\u2019m alive and I can do this. I am constantly aware that on my unluckiest day I somehow survived because of the absolute heroes that could step in and step up,\u201d Ms Stewart said on Instagram.<\/p>\n
\u201cI owe my life to them and beyond gratitude, I want to pay forward the absolute army of support I\u2019ve been blessed with.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Literal life savers\u2019<\/p>\n
Ms Stewart\u2019s comments come after she was reunited with the \u201cabsolute legends\u201d who helped save her life following a horrific attack.<\/p>\n
\u201cGot to meet these absolute legends today,\u201d she said on Instagram alongside an image with two of the lifeguards who performed CPR on her during the terrifying ordeal.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast time we met they were performing CPR and breathing for me, this time we had a big hug and got to hang out at Maroubra Surf Lifesaving Club. <\/p>\n
\u201cThanks for being literal life savers.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Coogee shark attack survivor Leah Stewart has responded to widely-criticised comments made by former AFL player and radio…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":87356,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[146939,146924,50333,41536,43929,19711,146905,43088,135783,40379,38375,146909,135806,63674,124381,146914,38151,51145,146932,60368,37531,59373,52664,22,6466,7245,21,138061,13431,41559,14444,135795,35482,146931,52796,141536,135778,146907,48987,55303,146923,146941,43934,105659,82124,146903,49864,146912,96762,135779,146940,46799,5518,146933,71686,3430,89821,146920,146927,146935,134870,29053,146930,141540,25605,56632,146925,39448,146916,42290,39252,119531,146917,146921,146918,3170,379,123709,24011,146910,141538,146936,146929,146926,135788,41631,881,4381,247,146911,36658,146915,119533,146934,40726,146904,40545,66940,37024,119539,146919,146906,46531,146913,53868,41313,37634,146937,62311,37514,146922,100751,37452,146908,38964,146902,31666,59641,146928,146938],"class_list":["post-87355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-jab","tag-s-mayo","tag-s-account","tag-s-comments","tag-s-east","tag-60-minutes","tag-a-4-metre-great-white-shark","tag-a-big-hug","tag-a-brick-wall","tag-a-chance","tag-a-coffee","tag-a-coma-she","tag-a-dinosaur","tag-a-heart-attack","tag-a-horrific-attack","tag-a-limb","tag-a-lot","tag-a-mum","tag-a-partial-arm-amputation","tag-a-segment","tag-a-shark","tag-all-that","tag-an-image","tag-au","tag-august","tag-aussies","tag-austrlia","tag-beachgoers","tag-brendan-fevola","tag-comments","tag-coogee-beach","tag-coogee-shark-attack-survivor-leah-stewart","tag-cpr","tag-every-first-responder","tag-ferguson","tag-fevola","tag-fluids-and-blood","tag-former-afl-player-and-radio-star-brendan-fevola","tag-gratitude","tag-her-account","tag-her-aid","tag-her-attack-account","tag-her-body","tag-her-community","tag-her-experience","tag-her-forearm","tag-her-life","tag-her-other-arm","tag-her-shoulders","tag-her-thigh","tag-his-fox-fm-radio-show","tag-hold","tag-instagram","tag-june-13-lifeguards","tag-last-time","tag-life","tag-listeners","tag-literal-life","tag-literal-life-savers","tag-maroubra-surf-lifesaving-club","tag-mayo","tag-ms-stewart","tag-much-thought","tag-much-time","tag-multiple-surgeries","tag-my-daughter","tag-my-energy","tag-my-family","tag-my-incredible-medical-team","tag-my-kids","tag-my-life","tag-my-recovery","tag-my-rehabilitation","tag-my-unluckiest-day","tag-my-wife-alex","tag-news-headlines","tag-newswire-news","tag-nine-com-au","tag-punch","tag-radio-star","tag-shark-attack-survivor-leah-stewart","tag-shark-survivor","tag-shark-survivor-leah-stewart","tag-some-scratches-and-stuff","tag-st-vincent","tag-star","tag-stewart","tag-support","tag-sydney","tag-that-beach","tag-that-day","tag-the-absolute-legends","tag-the-absolute-army","tag-the-absolute-heroes","tag-the-attack","tag-the-bone-marrow","tag-the-comments","tag-the-couch","tag-the-country","tag-the-flags","tag-the-general-sentiment","tag-the-lifeguards","tag-the-mum","tag-the-second-chance","tag-the-segment","tag-the-shark","tag-the-support","tag-the-sydney-mum","tag-the-terrifying-ordeal","tag-the-water","tag-these-absolute-legends","tag-this-position","tag-this-time","tag-this-tough-girl","tag-this-week","tag-thursday-she","tag-today","tag-too-much-time","tag-trauma-specialist-ian-ferguson","tag-widely-criticised-comments"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87355"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87355\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}