New details emerge about Sydney shark attack survivor as she continues her fight for life in hospital

By CHARLOTTE KARP, SENIOR NEWS REPORTER Published: 05:57, 19 June 2026 | Updated: 06:25, 19 June 2026 A teacher who lost her arm in a horrific shark attack has been hailed as a real-life 'survivor' by friends as thousands rally around the young mum's family during her fight for life. Leah Stewart, 34, was swimming near the shore at Coogee Beach in Sydney's eastern suburbs on Saturday morning when she was attacked by a great white shark. Her friend was looking after her one-year-old daughter on the sand when the shark struck. Ms Stewart was rescued by off-duty lifeguard Charlie Verco, who saw the attack from his paddleboard. She lost consciousness as he paddled her back to shore. She was given multiple blood transfusions on the beach before being airlifted to St Vincent's Hospital in a critical condition, but surgeons couldn't save her arm. The primary school teacher, who works at Hurstville Adventist School, has been on life support ever since. A GoFundMe campaign launched by her brother, Joshua Stewart, has garnered more than $445,000, with a number of people commenting with stories about how they know Ms Stewart. One person said they knew her when she worked as a teacher at Sydney Adventist School in Auburn about 10 years ago. Leah Stewart, 34, is pictured, left, at Hurstville Adventist School, where she works Leah Stewart has a one-year-old daughter (pictured), who was with a friend on the sand when the shark attacked Leah Stewart told students in 2016 that she wanted to compete on reality TV show, Survivor (pictured: Survivor Australia in 2016) 'My friend and I had been watching Australian Survivor and were discussing the finale,' they wrote. 'Miss Stewart overheard, asked if we were talking about Survivor, and quickly said, "Don’t tell me who won, I haven’t seen it yet".' 'She then said she wanted to go on Survivor - well 10 years later, she is a survivor. 'She will take on the challenges and come out on top. I wish you, her, and your families nothing but the best,' they wrote. The principal of Hurstville Adventist School Erika Ratu, where Ms Stewart works, also wrote a supportive post on social media. 'Our hearts are with Miss Leah Stewart, her daughter, partner and her family,' Ms Ratu wrote. 'Miss Stewart has a beautiful way of bringing joy and light into every space - she is deeply caring, advocates for others, and treats everyone with warmth and kindness. She is deeply loved by our students, staff and parents. 'We continue to hold Leah and her family in our prayers during this time, and we are so grateful for the outpouring of support, love and care from our wider community.'  Leah Stewart works as a primary school teacher at Hurstville Adventist School Leah Stewart is pictured, front row in green, with her colleagues at school Her brother, Joshua Stewart, wrote on the fundraiser that she underwent another complex operation with multiple specialists on Wednesday. He wrote: 'Given the extensive open wounds contaminated with sand and debris, the risk of infection is extreme.' 'Please pray for her during her continued surgery and for her body to heal without infection.' He said their mother is a registered nurse who has been by Ms Stewart's side in the intensive care unit. Ms Stewart's partner Fernando, who was presenting at a conference overseas when the attack took place, has arrived back in Australia to be by her side. Her brother thanked Ms Stewart's friends for making a playlist of her favourite songs to play in her hospital room.  'We’re currently printing out photos to put into her hospital room to surround her with positive memories, for when she becomes conscious,' he said. Mr Stewart thanked friends and community members who donated to the fundraiser and dropped off food, nappies and supplies for the family.  Leah Stewart, 35, was about 30 metres from the shore at Coogee Beach, in the city's eastern suburbs, when she was attacked by a great white shark Ms Stewart was swimming about 30 metres from shore when she was attacked by a great white shark 'We’ve been blown away by the support, care, love and generosity we’ve received for Leah,' he wrote. 'Thank you all so much for your prayers, words of support, care, generosity and kindness.' 'Your love, concern and help has made a world of difference to giving Leah and her little family some stability and hope for her recovery. Ms Stewart was swimming between the flags and close to the shore when the shark attacked. She was rescued by off-duty lifeguard Charlie Verco, who was paddleboarding about 100m from Ms Stewart when the attack occurred.  He immediately paddled towards Ms Stewart and helped lift her from the water. Coogee Beach was not being monitored by shark surveillance drones at the time of the attack because the area lies beneath a flight path.  Authorities were later given an exemption for drones to temporarily monitor shark activity.  The shark that attacked Ms Stewart is believed to have been between three and four metres long. The comments below have been moderated in advance. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. 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? 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