Leah Stewart, who was attacked by a great white on June 13th, has awoken from her induced coma. Photo: GoFundMe
On the morning June 13, a 35-year-old teacher named Leah Stewart was swimming off Coogee Beach outside of Sydney when a 12-foot great white shark attacked her. She sustained severe injuries, many of which were life threatening on their own. She suffered from multiple bites across her arm and legs, lacerations and fractures throughout her body, and extreme blood loss. Now, though, a few weeks after the attack, she has been taken out of the induced coma.
“After a week of life-support and repeat surgeries, doctors were able to extubate Leah and reduce her level of sedation to bring her out of the induced coma for a short period of time,” reads an update to Stewart’s crowdfunding campaign. “This allowed Leah to share her first words ‘I love you’ with her Mum and partner Fernando who have been by her side in ICU since the incident. Her first thoughts were with her daughter August and wanted to check she was OK. This is a lot faster than anyone expected, and for us this feels like a miracle and is everything so many of us have hoped and prayed for over the past week.”
One of the many surgeries Stewart underwent to save her life was the amputation of her arm. She’s got a long road ahead of her, but the simple fact that she was able to be taken out of the induced coma is extraordinarily good news.
“Leah remains in ICU and will continue to require this high level of care and support for some time,” the GoFundMe campaign update continued. “She has undergone five days of surgery over the past week, and is scheduled for further surgeries today and more through the coming weeks. Leah has a long road ahead and still remains in critical care, but this is such a positive first step and gives us hope for Leah’s longterm recovery.”
