Nearly two weeks after a brutal shark attack left her fighting for life at one of Sydney’s most popular public beaches, a local teacher has achieved a surprising early recovery milestone that has lifted the spirits of her family and the broader community.
Leah Stewart, a 34-year-old mother of one, was mauled by a shark while swimming close to shore at Coogee Beach on Saturday, June 13. The attack left her with multiple lacerations across her arms and legs, massive blood loss, and required emergency medical intervention that included the amputation of one of her arms and multiple consecutive surgical procedures.
Immediately after the attack, Stewart was rushed to a nearby hospital in critical condition, where medical teams placed her in an induced coma to support her recovery. More than a week later, on the following Tuesday, her brother Joshua shared that clinicians had lowered her sedative medication, allowing Stewart to wake briefly for the first time since the incident.
During that brief period of consciousness, Stewart told her mother and partner, who were at her bedside, that she loved them, and asked after the wellbeing of her young daughter. In a public online update shared with the hundreds of community members who have offered support to the family since the attack, Joshua described the early awakening as nothing short of a miracle.
“This is a lot faster than anyone expected, and for us this feels like a miracle and is everything so many of us have hoped and prayed for over the past week,” Joshua wrote.
He went on to confirm that Stewart remains in intensive care, having undergone five full days of surgery in the week following the attack, with more planned reconstructive procedures scheduled in the coming weeks. While warning that the 34-year-old still faces a long, challenging road to recovery and remains in critical care, Joshua emphasized that the early awakening is a hugely encouraging first step that has given the entire family renewed hope for her long-term recovery.
Stewart’s attack is one of a growing string of deadly shark encounters recorded across Australia in 2025. In January, four separate attacks occurred across the country in just a 48-hour window, including one on a young boy at a Sydney beach who later died from his injuries. Just last month, two more fatal attacks were recorded: a spearfisher was killed by a shark in Queensland, and 38-year-old Steven Mattaboni, a father of two, died after being bitten by a 4-meter great white off the coast of Western Australia.