An Australian woman who was seriously injured during a shark attack in Sydney earlier this year has spoken publicly for the first time since she encountered a four-metre-long great white shark and recalled punching her in the face.
Leah Stewart, a 34-year-old mother of one, was dragged underwater by a shark at Coogee Beach on the morning of June 13, sinking its teeth into her arms and thigh, resulting in severe blood loss and the amputation of her left arm.
In an interview with 60 Minutes AustraliaAired on Sunday, she detailed the moment she realized a shark was circling, saying she began screaming loudly in an attempt to alert others to the animal’s presence.
She said during the interview: “I have never screamed so loudly and so crazily in my life… I am just thinking: Surely the rescuers will hear our screams, and a jet ski will come out at any moment and scare her away.” But they did not arrive in time, and she soon came face to face with the animal.
Get breaking national news
Get Canada breaking news delivered to your inbox as it happens so you never miss a trending story.
“His face was horrible. I’ll never forget his face. He was huge and his teeth and his mouth were huge and his eyes were just beady little black eyes,” Stewart recalled, adding that she realized she had to try to fight him.
“I have to try to punch him. I have to try to push him away or he’ll bite my head off,” she said, explaining that she threw a left hook to the shark’s body, which she said was like “hitting a brick wall.”
Stewart recalled that the shark tore skin and muscle from her arm, saying she kept hitting the shark because she had to stay alive for her daughter.
“In my head, I was saying… you’re not going to take me away from my daughter.” I twisted myself and started punching him over and over again.
The shark severely damaged Stewart’s thigh and arms before help could reach her.
60 Minutes reported that Stewart was pulled from the water by the world champion rower who witnessed the attack and another bystander who swam to help. The two men recalled being pulled underwater by the shark, and said she was lucid enough to respond to instructions.
Stuart also received life-saving care on the beach from Dr. Ian Ferguson, A trauma specialist who happened to be at the scene applied a tourniquet to her injuries. Ferguson also drilled into bone marrow in her shoulders to access blood vessels when her veins collapsed, according to a 60 Minutes report, which she praised as a crucial life-saving procedure.
The Australian news program added that her injuries were so serious that upon arrival at hospital they were classified as “incompatible with life.”
Stewart spent several weeks in intensive care, receiving treatment for her injuries, which she says changed her ability to interact with her daughter, August, whom she has not been able to pick up since the attack.
“August will raise her hands and want me to hold her. I’m just so desperate for it; I just want to hold her and I can’t.”
Thanking the bystanders and medical staff who saved her, Stewart said: “They have all played an important role in getting me here now and I am so grateful for everything they have done for me and I don’t think I can say thank you enough.”
The attack on Stewart came months after beaches in Sydney and dozens of other beaches along the east coast of Australia were closed after four people were attacked by sharks in two days.
Over the past 10 years, Australia has seen, on average, 27 shark incidents each year in which people were injured, with fewer than three resulting in deaths, according to data from the conservation organisation. Australian Shark Incident Database.
&Copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
