Hero lifeguard opens up on the confusing moment right before a great white shark attacked a mother at Coogee Beach

By MATT JONES, SENIOR NEWS REPORTER, AUSTRALIA Published: 07:44, 1 July 2026 | Updated: 07:44, 1 July 2026 The off-duty lifeguard who saved a mother during a horrific shark attack at a famous Sydney beach has revealed she thought she had felt a dolphin before being bitten.  Charlie Verco, 25, was paddleboarding about 100metres from Leah Stewart, 34, when the attack occurred at Coogee Beach on June 13. Ms Stewart was swimming about 30metres from shore when she was mauled by a great white shark, with Mr Verco paddling towards the shark before helping the mother out of the water.  Ms Stewart spent more than a week on life support, endured multiple surgeries, and had her arm amputated, before she was woken up from her coma.  Speaking on the Straight Talk podcast with Mark Bouris, Mr Verco said it was not clear immediately before the attack that a shark was in the water.  'I actually found out that she (Ms Stewart) felt the shark before she saw it and said it felt like a wetsuit material and she thought it was a dolphin, looked around and saw that it was a shark and that was when she started screaming,' he said. Despite paddling towards danger, Mr Verco thought his large paddleboard 'would probably frighten the shark and scare it off'. But those thoughts changed when he saw the size of the great white. Less than two weeks after the shark attack at Coogee Beach, Charlie Verco, who helped rescue the woman injured in the attack, joins me to reflect on the rescue and the moments that followed. Charlie speaks with honesty and humility about what he witnessed, the decisions he made under extraordinary pressure, and how years of surf lifesaving training helped guide him through a moment he never expected to face. There is a GoFundMe supporting the woman injured in the attack with her recovery and ongoing expenses. If you’re able to, please consider donating via the link in bio. Full conversation is out now on all podcast platforms.  Charlie Verco recalled how he paddled towards the shark attack to try and help Leah Stewart  Ms Stewart was swimming at Coogee Beach last month when a great white shark attacked her 'I was paddling over with that kind of intention, still pretty scared, still pretty hesitant,' he said. 'I eventually saw the shark come out of the water. I saw the dorsal fin, saw the back, saw the tail, and I saw the size of it… this thing's a pretty solid animal. 'It felt like I was looking up at the animal whilst being on top of a board and just went, "This thing is not going to be scared of me".  'And then my entire attitude on the situation changed.' Mr Verco said the shark was moving inquisitively and slowly with what he described as 'cautious movements'. 'And in my experience with sharks, I just thought that would mean that it would figure out that they (swimmers) weren't seals and they weren't food and just swim off and leave them alone,' he said. 'It got a lot more violent. Whether it was pushing, whether it was getting dragged around, obviously she was definitely getting bitten. 'And that was when the water started to get a bit dirty with blood. There was lots of screaming. Ms Stewart was given multiple blood transfusions on the beach before being airlifted to St Vincent's Hospital Mr Verco was out training on his paddleboard when he heard the screams 'Once the water got quite bloody, she actually got taken under and I couldn't see her anymore and I just went, "Well, now there's definitely nothing I can do".' Suddenly Ms Stewart rose to the surface after the shark let her go. 'That was when I paddled over closer to her and she was lucid enough to respond to instructions and say, "Help me" and that kind of thing,' Mr Verco said. He pulled her onto his paddleboard where she passed out as he made his way back to shore. Mr Verco said he did his best to comfort her with words like, 'We're almost ashore' and 'You're doing really well' to take her mind off the severity of her injuries. On the shore, lifeguards applied tourniquets and began CPR, before Ms Stewart regained consciousness.  She was given multiple blood transfusions on the beach before being airlifted to St Vincent's Hospital. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. 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