Sydney Mother Recalls Punching Great White Shark in Coogee Attack

A Sydney woman who survived a near-fatal shark attack has described the visceral terror of being dragged underwater by a 4m great white, an encounter she fought through with a desperate and repeated barrage of punches. Leah Stewart, 34, a mother of one, was attacked while swimming at Coogee Beach in June, sustaining catastrophic injuries to her thigh and arms that led to the amputation of her left arm.

In an interview aired on Sunday, Ms Stewart recounted the moment of supreme peril with remarkable clarity. The attack occurred as she was finishing her regular Saturday morning swim and heading back to shore. She was alerted by a shrill shriek from behind, and turned to see a huge fin in the water. Realising it was not a dolphin, she found herself staring into the face of the predator. The shark's visage was “horrific,” she recalled, with “black little beady eyes” and a “massive” mouth. At one point, the creature was just 30cm from her face.

It was then that her thoughts turned to her infant daughter, August. “In my head, I was like, 'You are not taking me away from my daughter',” she told the Nine Network's 60 Minutes. As the shark grabbed her, she twisted around and began to fight. "I just started punching it over and over and over again - it was like fighting a dinosaur," she said, describing the sensation as akin to punching a brick wall.

Even in her panic, her resolve remained strategic. Being right-handed, she decided to throw a left hook, which the shark seized, ripping away skin, muscle, and bone from her forearm. The shark then pulled her under, grabbing her leg. Fighting back tears, she recalled the thought that she was about to die, but willed herself to survive for the sake of her daughter. "I just knew I couldn't leave her... it sounds strange but I sort of willed myself back," she said. Her determination paid off; after landing a decisive blow, the shark released her.

Stewart was pulled to safety by other swimmers and rushed to hospital, where she was placed in an induced coma and underwent nearly a dozen surgeries. Despite the trauma and the loss of her arm, Ms Stewart is resolute about her identity. She does not wish to be remembered as the victim of a mauling, but as the woman who survived by fighting back. "I'm the woman that punched the shark in the face," she declared.