Young mum Leah Stewart fighting for life after horror Coogee shark attack as loved ones speak out

Published: 04:13, 15 June 2026 | Updated: 04:26, 15 June 2026 The woman injured in Saturday's shark attack at Coogee Beach has been identified as much-loved mum Leah Stewart. Friends have described Ms Stewart, 35, as an accomplished swimmer and passionate advocate for water quality. Ms Stewart was swimming about 30 metres from shore when she was attacked by a suspected great white shark. A friend was caring for her toddler on the beach while her partner was overseas and rushed home after hearing the news. Off-duty lifeguard Charlie Verco, 24, sprang into action, paddling towards the shark before helping Ms Stewart from the water. 'I'd like to think I did enough to get her in fast enough,' he told 7NEWS. 'Once I had her next to me, I was just going, 'keep your head above water, keep breathing, you're doing really well, we're almost at the beach.' 'Just anything, I guess, to feel the silence. It wasn't conversational. She was not in a great way.' Ms Stewart was airlifted to hospital after suffering devastating injuries to her left arm and leg. She was in a critical but stable condition at St Vincent's Hospital Sydney on Monday morning. A long-time Coogee local, Ms Stewart swam 50km in November to raise funds for breast cancer research. She and her partner welcomed their first child early last year.  The woman injured in Saturday's shark attack at Coogee Beach has been identified as Leah Stewart No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.