Leah Stewart: Australian shark attack victim grateful for ‘second chance at life’

An Australian woman bitten by a shark at a popular Sydney beach earlier this year says she has been given a “second chance at life” and will be making the most of it.

Leah Stewart, 34, was mauled by a shark during a morning swim at Coogee Beach in June, suffering multiple bites to her arms and legs, amid a spate of attacks in Australia.

The mother-of-one was placed in an induced coma and had several surgeries, including having one of her arms amputated.

In an online post on Monday, she thanked her supporters who have raised more than AU$550,000 (US$394,000; £289,000) for her, saying her recovery has been “incredibly difficult” but she is making “remarkable” progress.

“After what has been an incredibly difficult few months, I’m so happy that I’ve progressed enough to build some independence, and I can finally see some light after all of this,” Stewart wrote, in her first comments since the attack.

“I want you to know that I feel like I’ve been given a second chance at life, and I’m not going to waste it.”

Stewart said she had been “overwhelmed” by the support from family, friends and “even strangers”, adding that the “you’ve inspired me to get better, not bitter”.

An online fundraiser for her would now be closed, she wrote, with the money raised giving her the chance to recover at home as well as “options for further medical treatment down the road”.

“I still have a long way to go, but my recovery has been remarkable, and a huge part of that is because of the absolute army of love, support, prayers and encouragement surrounding my family and I from all over the world.”

In an interview with Nine Network’s 60 Minutes, due to be aired this weekend, Stewart described seeing the shark’s “horrific” face.

“I’ll never forget its face – it was a monster,” she says.

“It was holding onto my leg and I just thought of (my daughter) August, and I thought, ‘she’s not going to have a mum. She’s gonna grow up without a mum’.”

Fighting back tears, she goes on: “I couldn’t handle that, I didn’t want her to not have a mum. I just thought, I’ve got to fight it, do everything I can to be here.”

There have been a spate of shark attacks in Australia this year, with four attacks over a two-day period in January, including one on a 12-year-old boy who later died from his injuries.

In May, a man was killed by a shark in Queensland while spearfishing and in Western Australia, a father-of-two died after he was attacked by a 4m (13ft) shark.