Shark attack survivor recounts punching great white to save herself

Leah Stewart, a 34-year-old teacher and mother from Australia, fought off a four-meter great white shark by punching it in the face during a terrifying attack at Coogee Beach in Sydney on June 13, 2026. The encounter left her critically injured, resulting in the amputation of her left arm and severe damage to her right hand. In her first public interview since the incident, Stewart recounted the harrowing struggle for survival and her determination to recover for the sake of her one-year-old daughter, August.

Stewart was swimming near shore and between the flags when she heard a scream and saw a massive fin in the water. As the shark approached, its mouth coming within centimeters of her face, she made a split-second decision to fight. "I could feel movement in the water and I turned around and it was right there," she told 60 Minutes Australia. "I'll never forget its face. It was huge and its teeth and its mouth was massive and its eyes, its just black little beady eyes, we were just looking face-to-face."

Knowing she needed to protect her dominant right hand, Stewart used her left arm to strike the shark. "I decided, 'Let's do a left hook,'" she recalled. The shark then seized...