{"id":756244,"date":"2026-06-24T01:44:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T01:44:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/756244\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T01:44:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T01:44:15","slug":"coogee-shark-attack-survivor-leah-stewarts-first-words-after-emerging-from-coma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/756244\/","title":{"rendered":"Coogee shark attack survivor Leah Stewart\u2019s first words after emerging from coma"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"JackSave<\/p>\n

You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n

Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n

AAA<\/p>\n

A woman who survived a terrifying shark attack at a beach in Sydney\u2019s eastern suburbs has emerged from a coma to tell her family she loves them after days of repeated surgeries.<\/p>\n

Leah Stewart, 35, has been in intensive care since she was mauled by a shark at Coogee Beach on June 13.<\/p>\n

But doctors have been able to extubate her and reduce her sedation levels, allowing her to emerge from an induced coma for a short period, after a series of surgical procedures including an arm amputation.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Swimmers<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThis allowed Leah to share her first words \u2018I love you\u2019 with her Mum and partner Fernando who have been by her side in ICU since the incident,\u201d Stewart\u2019s brother Joshua wrote in an update on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer first thoughts were with her daughter August and wanted to check she was OK.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis 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.<\/p>\n

\"LeahLeah Stewart, pictured with her daughter, was attacked by a great white shark at Coogee earlier in June.<\/p>\n

\u201cLeah 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\u2019s long-term recovery,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The update came via an online fundraiser which has raised nearly $500,000 from more than 7000 donors to support Stewart\u2019s recovery.<\/p>\n

\"SwimmersSwimmers take part in the charity event at Coogee on Sunday.Edwina Pickles<\/p>\n

One thousand swimmers who swam out in the heavily patrolled waters at Coogee were encouraged to look out for blue gropers \u2013 Stewart\u2019s favourite underwater sight \u2013 during a fundraiser on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\"AndreAndre de Ruyter has returned to the water after surviving a shark attack in January.Lisa de Ruyter<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, more than five months after being attacked by a shark on the northern beaches<\/a> and losing a leg, 27-year-old Andre de Ruyter has re-entered the water.<\/p>\n

Save<\/p>\n

You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n

Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n

\"JackJack Gramenz<\/a> is a breaking news reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":756245,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-756244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/756244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=756244"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/756244\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/756245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=756244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=756244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=756244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}