MOM’S “LEFT HOOK” SAVED HER LIFE: LEAH STEWART REVEALS TERRIFYING MOMENT SHE FOUGHT OFF GREAT WHITE SHARK

COOGEE BEACH, AUSTRALIA — Leah Stewart was swimming off Coogee Beach when a great white shark suddenly turned toward her.

In a split second, the 34-year-old mother realized the predator was opening its jaws — and she feared it was about to bite her face.

There was no time to escape.

So she made a decision that would ultimately help save her life.

She punched the shark in the face.

“I’ve got to try and punch it. I’ve got to try and push it away or else it’s going to bite my head off,” Stewart recalled in a preview of her upcoming interview with 60 Minutes.

Then came the calculation no mother should ever have to make.

Which limb could she afford to lose?

“I’m right-handed,” Stewart said. “So I decided, let’s do a left hook.”

THE ATTACK THAT LEFT HER FIGHTING FOR HER LIFE

Stewart said the shark grabbed her during the terrifying encounter and she remembers its face as the animal attacked.

The impact was catastrophic.

Her left arm was ultimately amputated, and she spent approximately two weeks in a coma after being pulled from the water.

Emergency responders were called to Coogee Beach, where a witness reported a shark attack and described a scene involving a large amount of blood.

For Stewart, however, the physical injuries were only part of what she was fighting against.

She was thinking about her baby daughter.

“SHE’S NOT GOING TO HAVE A MUM”

Stewart is the mother of a young daughter, August, who was about one year old at the time of the attack.

As the shark held onto her, Stewart said her thoughts immediately turned to her child.

She knew she had to survive.

“I just thought of August,” she recalled. “I thought, ‘She’s not going to have a mum.’”

That thought became the driving force behind her fight.

Stewart said her instinct as a mother gave her the determination to keep resisting even as the attack became increasingly violent.

She punched the shark in the face in an attempt to force it away.

But the predator tore away her arm.

A DECISION THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING

Stewart’s account is remarkable because she wasn’t simply reacting to fear.

She was making a split-second calculation while facing an animal capable of causing catastrophic injury.

She realized that protecting her head could mean sacrificing another part of her body.

Because she was right-handed, she chose her left arm.

The decision ultimately came at an enormous cost.

But Stewart survived.

TWO WEEKS IN A COMA

After the attack, Stewart was left in critical condition and spent roughly two weeks in a coma.

Her recovery has involved multiple surgeries, including the amputation of her left arm.

The physical rehabilitation has been extensive, but Stewart says she is gradually beginning to see a future beyond the attack.

“I can finally see some light after all of this,” she said.

Her recovery has been described as remarkable by those following her journey.

THE EMERGENCY CALL THAT CAPTURED THE PANIC

A chilling emergency call made immediately after the attack was also featured in promotional material for Stewart’s 60 Minutes interview.

A woman can be heard reporting:

“There’s a shark attack at Coogee Beach.”

She then warns emergency responders that there is a significant amount of blood.

The call provides a glimpse into the chaos that unfolded immediately after Stewart was attacked.

While she was fighting to survive, people on shore were desperately trying to get help.

A COMMUNITY RALLIES AROUND THE MOTHER

As Stewart began the long process of recovery, friends and loved ones launched a GoFundMe campaign to help support her and her daughter.

The fundraiser reportedly attracted approximately A$558,000, equivalent to around £300,000 at the exchange rate cited by the publication.

The enormous response reflected the impact Stewart’s story had on people far beyond Coogee.

She was not only recovering from devastating physical injuries.

She was also facing the challenge of rebuilding everyday life as a mother and teacher after losing her left arm.

“A MONSTER” SHE WILL NEVER FORGET

Even after surviving the attack, Stewart says the image of the shark remains deeply etched in her memory.

She described its face as something she will never forget.

For a moment that lasted only seconds, her entire future depended on what she did next.

There was no rescue plan.

No time to think.

Only instinct.

And one decision:

Fight back.

A MOTHER DETERMINED TO BE THERE FOR HER DAUGHTER

Stewart’s story has resonated because her motivation was remarkably simple.

She wanted to survive for August.

The thought of her daughter growing up without her became the reason she kept fighting.

That determination helped carry her through an attack that left her permanently injured and through the difficult weeks that followed.

Now, after multiple surgeries and a long recovery, Stewart says she is beginning to look forward again.

She has also said she is no longer accepting donations from the fundraiser that helped support her recovery.

THE NEXT CHAPTER

The shark attack changed Stewart’s life in a matter of seconds.

She lost her left arm.

She spent weeks in a coma.

She faced a recovery that will continue for years.

But she also survived.

And when she looks back at the moment the shark opened its mouth toward her face, Stewart remembers the decision that may have made the difference:

She chose to fight.

Her story is not simply about a terrifying encounter in the ocean.

It is about a mother who, in the middle of an unimaginable emergency, thought about her daughter — and refused to give up.

For Stewart, the battle is no longer happening in the water.

It is the daily journey of rebuilding her life.

And for the first time since that terrifying day, she says she can finally begin to see some light ahead.