'Like fighting a dinosaur': Sydney woman recalls how she punched shark during attack
Leah Stewart, a Sydney woman who survived a severe shark attack at Coogee Beach, has shared her harrowing experience of fighting off a great white shark. The attack resulted in the amputation of her arm, but she credits her survival to her determination to return to her daughter.
Why it matters
The story serves as a high-profile human interest piece regarding wildlife encounters and personal resilience.
Image source, Supplied Image caption, Leah Stewart was mauled by a shark at Sydney's Coogee Beach in June
A Sydney woman who survived a shark attack has described the moment she came face-to-face with a 4m great white before repeatedly punching it.
Leah Stewart, 34, was dragged under the water at Coogee Beach in June as the shark bit into her thigh and arms, leaving her with extreme blood loss and injuries so severe that doctors had to amputate her left arm.
In an interview which aired on Sunday, the mother-of-one said she was determined to live for the sake of her baby daughter.
"In my head, I was like, ... 'You are not taking me away from my daughter', and I twisted myself around and I just started punching it over and over and over again - it was like fighting a dinosaur".
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