Two months after a great white shark attack left her fighting for her life, Sydney mother Leah Stewart, has spoken publicly for the first time about the moment she came face-to-face with the animal, and the thought that gave her a reason to survive.
Stewart, 34, was swimming between the flags at Coogee Beach in Sydney’s east on June 13 when she was attacked by a great white shark. She suffered life-threatening injuries to her arms and legs and was later placed in a medically induced coma for nearly two weeks.
The attack resulted in several surgeries, including the amputation of part of her arm. In an emotional interview with the Nine Network’s 60 Minutes, Stewart recalled the encounter and described how her thoughts immediately turned to her 18-month-old daughter, August.
‘I’ve got to fight it’
Stewart said her memory of the attack remains clear, including the moment she saw the shark. “Its face was horrific – I will never forget. It was a monster,” she told 60 Minutes.
She recalled the shark holding onto her leg as she fought to survive. “It was holding onto my leg.”
As she struggled with the animal, Stewart said she could think only about her daughter and the possibility that August could grow up without her.
“All I was thinking of was August and I thought, ‘She’s not going to have a mum’.” “I couldn’t handle that. I did not want her to grow up without a mum.”
That thought, she said, became the reason she continued fighting. “I just thought, ‘I’ve got to fight it and do everything I can to be here’.”
