Sydney shark attack victim describes moment she came to face-to-face with ‘monster’

In her first media interview following a shark attack that left her without an arm, Leah Stewart, a 34-year-old Australian teacher and mother of a one-year-old daughter, recounted the moment she encountered the "monster" shark. On June 13th, Stewart was swimming at Coogee beach when she was bitten by a large shark, leading to life-threatening injuries that required the amputation of her arm.

During her interview, Stewart's thoughts during the attack were centered on her daughter, August. "It was holding onto my leg, then I just thought of August. I thought, 'She's not going to have a mum. She's going to grow up without a mum,'" she told Nine Entertainment, her voice choked with emotion. "I couldn't handle that. I didn't want her to not have a mum."

Stewart described the shark's face as horrific and vowed never to forget it, calling it a "monster." In an update to a fundraiser for her medical expenses and family support, Stewart expressed her gratitude for the outpouring of love and support from around the world. Despite her recovery being marked by remarkable progress, she acknowledged that she still had much to achieve to return to a sense of normalcy.

She has now turned off donations to the GoFundMe page, which has raised over $558,925 to date. "I want to say the biggest thank you for looking after me, for caring for my family, and for being generous enough to help my family through this," Stewart said. "What you've offered has given us enough to recover, to stay in our home, and to give us options for further medical treatment down the road."

In closing, Stewart described herself as having been "given a second chance at life" and vowed not to waste it. She expressed her intention to make the most of her recovery and to give back in generosity, care, and love.