Leah Stewart has been reunited with her daughter 12 days after a great white shark attack at Coogee Beach left the 34-year-old new mum with life-changing injuries.
Ms Stewart was mauled on June 13 and rushed to St Vincent’s Hospital in Darlinghurst. She has since undergone multiple surgeries, including an arm amputation. She is now awake and in a stable condition, and has “now been stabilised and is no longer critical”.
On Thursday, her brother Joshua Stewart said she had “continued to make progress” in recent days. In an update posted to the GoFundMe fundraiser created to support her recovery, he said: “Leah has been brought out from the heavy sedation and is now awake and alert and has been able to speak with our family and her medical team.
“It’s amazing to hear from her so much sooner than anyone expected.
“Both Leah and August were overjoyed last night to see each other for the first time since the attack (these last weeks were the first time they had ever been apart overnight).”
The reunion was especially emotional because the “pair having never been separated before”.
Mr Stewart also said his sister had asked him to pass on her “thanks and appreciation for everyone who supported her through this difficult time”.
Earlier this week, he revealed she had spoken after briefly waking from an induced coma. In a previous update on the fundraising page, he wrote: “Some really wonderful news for Leah today.
“After a week of life support and repeat surgeries, doctors were able to extubate Leah and reduce her level of sedation to bring her out of the induced coma for a short period of time.
“This allowed Leah to share her first words, ‘I love you’, with her mum and partner Fernando, who have been by her side in ICU since the incident.”
