Its face was hor-rific — shark at-tack sur-vi-vor Leah Stewart reveals the ter-rifying moment she thought she might d-i-e
A mum critically injured in a shark attack has broken her silence as she continues her long road to recovery.
Leah Stewart was swimming between the flags at Coogee Beach in Sydney’s east on the morning of June 13 when she was mauled by a suspected 3.5m great white shark, sustaining life-threatening bites to her arms and legs.
Ms Stewart was placed into a medically induced coma for nearly two weeks, underwent several surgeries and had her arm amputated.
Leah Stewart was attacked by a shark at Coogee in June. Picture: GoFundMe
She thought of her daughter as she was being mauled. Picture: 60 Minutes
Two months on and Ms Stewart has recalled the horrific attack in an emotional interview set to air on 60 Minutes.
The 34-year-old said she remembered the entire ordeal and how her survival instincts kicked in for the sake of her daughter August.
“Its face was horrific – I will never forget. It was a monster,” she told 60 Minutes.
“It was holding onto my leg.”
“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.
“I just thought, ‘I’ve got to fight it and do everything I can to be here’.”
A terrifying triple-0 call is also expected to be aired in which operators were told there was “a lot of blood”.
Ms Stewart has undergone several surgeries and had an arm amputated. Picture: GoFundMe
She has since provided an update on her recovery progress. Picture: GoFundMe
Meanwhile, a fundraiser was created to help Ms Stewart in her recovery, with more than $558,000 raised for her rehabilitation, prosthetics and ongoing medical treatment.
In a fundraiser update, Ms Stewart said she had been “constantly overwhelmed at how supportive people I know, and even strangers, have been, and how much they’ve cared about my family to make such an impact on our lives”.
“After what has been an incredibly difficult few months, I’m so happy that I’ve progressed enough to build some independence, and I can finally see some light after all of this,” she said.
“At this point, I think it’s appropriate for us to turn off donations on the GoFundMe because what you’ve offered has given us enough to recover, to stay in our home, and to give us options for further medical treatment down the road.”
Ms Stewart said she had been given a ‘second chance at life’. Picture: NewsWire / Damian Shaw
She said the past few months had been spent on healing and slowly returning to “to some sort of normal life”.
“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 surrounding my family and I from all over the world,” she wrote.
“That means more to me than I can say, and I truly believe it’s played a huge role in my recovery.”
Ms Stewart said she felt as if she had been “given a second chance at life”.
“ … I’m not going to waste it,” she said.
“As I get better, I know I’ll make something of this second chance and aim to give back even more in generosity, care and love. I will forever be grateful for everything, and everyone, I’ve been given.
“You’ve inspired me to get better, not bitter.”
