On June 13, whilst swimming close to the shore on Coogee Beach, Leah Stewart was attacked by a shark and while she remains in critical condition her family have raised hundreds of thousands of pounds to help aid her recovery
A mum whose arm was amputated after a shark attack has raised more than $270,000 (£142,000) in less than 24 hours as she remains in critical condition in hospital.
On June 13, whilst on a morning swim close to the shore on Coogee Beach, Leah Stewart was attacked by a shark and has sustained life-threatening injuries with multiple bites across her arms and legs, lacerations and fractures throughout her body, and extreme blood loss.
The 35-year-old mum was attacked by a great white shark as her one-year-old daughter was on the sand just meters away with a friend at the time.
Ms Stewart was rescued by off-duty lifeguard Charlie Verco, 25, who saw the attack from his paddleboard. He immediately paddled towards Ms Stewart and helped lift her from the water.
Detailing the dramatic rescue he told ABC News: “The water got very bloody and she got taken under and after a few seconds, popped up again and the shark had let her go. All I really wanted to do was to go to shore, obviously, but because I was the only one on any craft near her, I was, like, if I don’t, I’m not here to help her, no-one is.
“She was lucid enough to say, “Help”, and respond to instruction, but she was very much in shock and definitely freaked out and wasn’t able to have conversation.”
She lost consciousness as he paddled her back to shore and paramedics had to give her multiple blood transfusions on the beach to keep her alive, a friend has revealed on social media.
She was airlifted to St Vincent’s Hospital in a critical condition and has undergone several operations on her life-threatening injuries, with even more to follow. Her brother Joshua Stewart created a GoFundMe campaign just before 3pm on Monday to help with her recovery, revealing that her arm had been amputated.
In the fundraiser, her brother wrote: “Leah remains in a critical condition on life support and has undergone multiple surgeries in the days after the attack. Tragically, her treatment has required the amputation of her arm, and more surgeries are scheduled for the coming days.”
Over $293k has been raised to help Ms Stewart with her recovery so far.
Coogee Beach was not being monitored by shark surveillance drones at the time of the attack because the area lies beneath a flight path. However, authorities have since granted a special exemption allowing drones to temporarily monitor shark activity.
You cna donate to teh GoFundMe page by clicking here.
