Australian woman tells of shark attack survival and losing her arm
Leah Stewart, 34, from Sydney, describes the June attack at Coogee Beach, how she fought a great white shark and why she sacrificed her left arm.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
An Australian woman who was attacked by a great white shark at a Sydney beach in June has spoken publicly for the first time about the ordeal, describing how she fought the animal to survive for the sake of her young daughter.
Leah Stewart, 34, was swimming at Coogee Beach when the shark struck. She said she saw the animal open its mouth and, thinking quickly, decided to offer her left arm as a block. "I'm right-handed so I decided to just throw up my left arm and block it," she recalled. The shark grabbed her left arm and tore off skin and muscle, leaving her hand hanging. It then seized her left thigh and pulled her underwater.
Stewart said she took a deep breath as she was dragged down and, for a moment, believed she would die. "I thought, this is the moment I die," she said. But the image of her one-year-old daughter, August, gave her a reason to fight. "She's not going to have a mum," she remembered thinking. "I couldn't handle that. I didn't want to not have a mom."
She twisted around and began punching the shark on the snout, even though it felt like "punching a brick wall." Eventually, the shark let go. She surfaced and was helped to shore by a paddleboarder.
On the beach, a doctor who happened to be there gave her emergency treatment, including a blood transfusion through her bone marrow. Stewart had lost a huge amount of blood but survived. A helicopter had brought blood and fluids down to the sand.
Nearly three months on, Stewart describes herself as "the most lucky person on her unluckiest day." She credits both the strangers who helped her and her own determination to see her daughter grow up. Her left arm was amputated as a result of the attack.
On screen
Stills are sampled automatically at 60-second intervals. Where shown, the still is the nearest available frame from the relevant broadcast segment and is included to show what was on screen during that part of the broadcast. A still may not correspond to the exact second of a quoted phrase.
Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, mapped by channel. Ordered by how many channels carried each claim.
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
Sky News focused on the dramatic detail of the attack and Stewart's survival instinct, highlighting her decision to use her left arm as a shield and her mental struggle during the attack. The report also mentioned her age and the date and location of the attack, but moved on quickly to other news, keeping the segment relatively short.
- “i just kind of throw my left arm and it just grabs onto my forearm and rips rips away my skin and muscle everything”
- “i thought she's not gonna have a mom she's gonna grow up without a mom”
- “it was like fighting a dinosaur it was so big it was like punching a brick wall”
ITV1 gave a longer, more emotional treatment, including Stewart's own words on choosing which arm to lose, her daughter as motivation, and the role of the doctor on the beach. The report also noted the shark was a great white and included her description of being rescued by a paddleboarder and receiving a blood transfusion on the sand. It framed the story as one of survival against all odds.
- “I thought, well, which arm am I willing to lose? And I'm right-handed so I decided to just throw up my left arm and block it.”
- “I'd almost bled to death at this point and he gave me a blood transfusion through my bone marrow.”
- “Leah describes herself as the most lucky person on her unluckiest day, helped by heroes on the shore.”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.