{"id":479031,"date":"2026-06-15T21:46:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T21:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/479031\/"},"modified":"2026-06-15T21:46:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T21:46:11","slug":"family-of-sydney-shark-attack-victim-shocked-and-devastated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/479031\/","title":{"rendered":"Family of Sydney shark attack victim ‘shocked and devastated’"},"content":{"rendered":"

The family of a loving mother and passionate teacher have revealed their shock and devastation as she battles life-threatening injuries<\/a> sustained in a shark attack. <\/p>\n

Coogee local Leah Stewart was attacked by a suspected great white shark<\/a> while swimming in between the flags and close to shore at Coogee beach on Saturday. <\/p>\n

The 35-year-old mother and teacher has undergone multiple surgeries, including the amputation of her arm, and remains in St Vincent’s Hospital in a critical condition. <\/p>\n

In a statement, her family thanked lifesavers, first responders, and hospital staff for caring for Stewart. <\/p>\n

Leah Stewart was swimming close to the shore on Coogee beach when she was mauled by what is believed to have been a 3.5m great white shark. (Source: Nine)<\/p>\n

“As a family we are shocked and devastated that this could happen to our beloved partner, daughter, and mother who is so full of life and energy,” they said. <\/p>\n

“Leah’s injuries are severe and life-threatening. She will need extensive ongoing care, support and rehabilitation.”<\/p>\n

Her family have asked for support as Stewart faces further surgeries in coming days, with her brother launching a fundraiser to aid in her recovery.<\/p>\n

NSW Premier Chris Minns said the great white shark population would not be culled<\/a> after the horrific attack.<\/p>\n

“When it comes to shark culling, the truth is the great white shark is protected,” he told reporters on Monday.<\/p>\n

“We’re not going to be contemplating a cull.<\/p>\n

The latest incident at Coogee Beach has reignited calls for culls to protect swimmers, which NSW Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty has not expressly ruled out. (Source: Nine)<\/p>\n

“I’m not convinced it would work… and certainly we haven’t received evidence or information it would work.”<\/p>\n

He noted there needed to be a rethink of how the issue of sharks is approached after several bull shark attacks in January.<\/p>\n

The attack reignited calls to cull shark populations to protect swimmers, with former prime minister Tony Abbott joining other politicians coming out strongly in favour of the measure.<\/p>\n

“It’s so wrong that we don’t cull sharks after attacks,” he said in a video he posted on his social media.<\/p>\n

“It’s so wrong we don’t put people before sharks.”<\/p>\n

But experts say there is little evidence shark culls keep ocean-goers safer.<\/p>\n

\"Leah<\/p>\n

Leah Stewart (Source: Nine)<\/p>\n

Adelaide University environmental science program director Brianna Le Brusque said harmful encounters with the predators were tragic and cull discussions an understandable response.<\/p>\n

There was no science on how many animals would need to be removed to keep swimmers safe nor evidence it would meaningfully improve community safety, she said.<\/p>\n

Surveillance methods, including employing spotters from vantage points to alert swimmers, were more effective, Dr Le Brusque told AAP.<\/p>\n

Minns championed the idea of low-orbiting, AI-enabled drones becoming a permanent feature in surveilling shark activity.<\/p>\n

Surf Lifesaving NSW public safety manager Brent Manieri confirmed drones would be allowed to fly across several beaches for the rest of the week.<\/p>\n

Manieri said negotiations were ongoing with the NSW government to fly drones across all of the state’s coastline to protect the public.<\/p>\n

Shark nets, another method of separating humans from marine predators, are set to be installed at the start of September.<\/p>\n

The NSW premier reiterated his support for shark nets as a useful deterrent and signalled they could remain all year round instead of summer months only.<\/p>\n

RMIT University fellow Rebecca Olive, a senior researcher in sport and leisure, noted there is more than one type of shark net, with some fully-enclosed and others free-floating.<\/p>\n

“Whales, dolphins, turtles, rays and birds all get caught in them,” she said, adding that the effectiveness of the nets in halting shark attacks was questionable.<\/p>\n

Coogee Surf Life Saving Club is hosting a community gathering for anyone affected by the shark attack on Monday evening.<\/p>\n

The morning’s headlines in 90 seconds, including Donald Trump’s claimed breakthrough with Iran, Britain’s move to ban social media for under-16s, and a dream FIFA World Cup debut for Cabo Verde. (Source: Breakfast)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The family of a loving mother and passionate teacher have revealed their shock and devastation as she battles…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":479032,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1081,50,85,42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-479031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-accident","tag-animals","tag-australia","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=479031"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479031\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/479032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=479031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=479031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=479031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}