Leah Stewart, a 35-year-old Sydney teacher, has revealed that her heart stopped as paramedics rushed her to hospital following a suspected great white shark attack at Coogee Beach on 13 June. She spent two weeks in a coma and had part of her arm amputated below the elbow, but was determined to survive for the sake of her one-year-old daughter, August. Her account, given to radio host Ben Fordham, underlines both the severity of the attack and the role played by bystanders and paramedics in saving her life.

Ms Stewart was pulled from the water by a paddleboarder before on-duty lifesavers performed CPR after her heart stopped; she only learned this detail a fortnight ago when reunited with them. She said she could not breathe for five to ten minutes on the beach due to blood loss and feared losing consciousness permanently. Three months on, she still relies on her fiancé for basic tasks, recently had a skin graft on a severe leg wound, hopes to eventually return to teaching, and remains unsure whether she will ever swim in the ocean again.