A shark attack survivor from Sydney has described the terrifying moment she threw a “left hook” at a great white shark before it dragged her underwater. Leah Stewart, a primary school teacher, lost part of her left arm after the attack at Coogee Beach on June 13. Her story has since drawn national attention to Australia’s growing number of shark encounters.

Stewart was placed in an induced coma immediately after the mauling. Doctors later amputated part of her injured limb. She has now shared the full account of her ordeal publicly, offering a rare first-person look at surviving a shark attack.

A Face-to-Face Encounter With a Great White Shark

The attack happened during what seemed like an ordinary swim. Stewart had gone for a late morning dip in the “crystal clear” waters off Coogee Beach. She had no idea she was sharing the sea with a great white shark that witnesses later described as up to four metres (13 feet) long.

As she finished her swim and approached the shore, a young girl nearby suddenly screamed. Stewart turned around instinctively. What she saw next changed everything.

“I turned, and there was a huge, huge fin behind her. It was massive, and at first I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a dolphin’,” she told Nine Network’s 60 Minutes in an episode aired on Sunday.

Within seconds, however, she realized this was no dolphin. “I looked at the size of it and I realized, that’s not a dolphin. And so we just start screaming at the top of our lungs, just like ‘shark, shark, shark’.”

Stewart swam a few more strokes, hoping to reach safety. Then she felt something move through the water behind her. When she turned again, the shark was slowly closing in.

“Its face was horrific. I’ll never forget its face, it was huge. And its teeth, and its mouth was massive, and its eyes, it’s just black little beady eyes. We were looking face to face,” she said.

Fighting Back Like ‘Punching a Dinosaur’

Fearing the shark would bite her face, Stewart made a split-second decision. She had to fight back, and she had to choose which arm she was willing to sacrifice.

“I thought, well, which limb am I willing to lose? I’m right-handed, so I decided let’s do a left hook,” she recounted.

The punch did not stop the attack. Instead, the shark clamped down hard on her forearm. “I just kind of throw my left arm, and it just grabs onto my forearm and rips, rips away my skin, my muscle, everything.”

Stewart looked down in shock at her injured hand. Moments later, the shark struck again, this time seizing her thigh. “The next moment, I feel it grab onto my left thigh, and it rips me underwater.”

As the animal pulled her beneath the surface, Stewart took a deep breath. She thought of her young daughter, August, and told herself she had to survive for her sake.

She twisted her body and kept fighting. “I twisted myself around, and I just started punching it over and over and over again, just punch, punch, punch, and it was like fighting a dinosaur,” she added.

Despite the sheer size and power of the animal, Stewart refused to give up. “It was so big; it was like punching a brick wall. And I think I must have got a really good one in. And so it let me go, and I just kind of popped back up.”

Charlie Verco, an elite paddleboarder nearby, rushed to help her reach the shore. Beach medics treated her before paramedics rushed her to hospital. About ten days later, doctors reduced her sedation, and Stewart finally emerged from her induced coma.

Shark Attacks Are Rising Across Australia

Stewart’s ordeal is part of a troubling pattern along Australia’s coastline. Scientists believe warming ocean temperatures are shifting shark migratory patterns, which may explain the recent rise in encounters near popular beaches.

In January, a 12-year-old boy died after being bitten by a shark while swimming in Sydney Harbour. Between May and June, three divers were killed in separate attacks — two off Western Australia and one in Queensland.

These incidents highlight a broader trend that researchers are still working to understand. According to a database tracking human-shark encounters, Australia has recorded nearly 1,300 shark incidents since 1791. More than 260 of these encounters have resulted in death.

General shark safety tips for swimmers:

• Avoid swimming at dawn, dusk, or night, when sharks are most active.
• Stay in groups rather than swimming alone.
• Avoid areas near river mouths or where fish are being cleaned.
• Watch for warning flags and lifeguard advisories at patrolled beaches.
• Exit the water calmly and immediately if a shark is spotted nearby.

Coogee Beach, where Stewart was attacked, remains one of Sydney’s most visited swimming spots. Despite the rarity of fatal shark encounters, her story is a stark reminder of how quickly conditions can change in the open ocean.

Stewart’s willingness to share her experience publicly has resonated widely. Her account combines raw survival instinct with a mother’s determination, offering both a warning and a message of resilience for anyone who ventures into Australian waters.