Jack MarshallJournalist·NZ Herald·31 Aug, 2026 12:45 AM4 mins to read Leah Stewart, 35, was mauled by a shark while swimming at one of Sydney’s Coogee Beach in June. In her first interview since waking from a coma, Stewart fought through tears to describe her fear of leaving her daughter without a mum. Photo / NineLeah Stewart should have died.The 35-year-old schoolteacher was finishing a morning swim at Sydney’s Coogee Beach when a 4m great white shark tore into her arm and leg and dragged her underwater.
Within minutes, she had lost a catastrophic amount of blood. Doctors would later describe her injuries as
