Leah Stewart has shared a heartwarming update months after she was attacked by a great white shark.
The mother of one, who has shared updates on social media on her recovery journey, took to Instagram to reveal a special milestone.
She shared a video of her picking up her daughter, August, and cuddling her, revealing it was the first time she’d managed to do so after her accident.
“I honestly was so heartbroken thinking I’d never be able to lift her up again…” she wrote in the heartfelt caption.
“But then, after hundreds of hours of therapy, I can now do this; it was all worth it. Big thanks to all of the medical teams who got me here.”
On June 13, Leah was attacked by a great white shark at Coogee Beach and suffered serious injuries to her leg and her left arm, which was amputated.
Since then, she has been candid about the difficulties of her recovery process.
On September 22, she revealed that the skin graft for her leg had failed.
“Unfortunately, this is not the post I was wanting to do, but I had my graft checked yesterday, and it was confirmed that it failed,” she shared in an Instagram video.
“I’m feeling pretty devastated. [I’ve] had quite a few tears, and now we’re not really sure where to go from here.”
Despite the setback, she said she didn’t plan to give up.
The shark attack survivor has also been raising awareness about beach safety.
Taking to Instagram on September 29, she posted a video about the importance of shark bite kits.
“I hope you never have to use one of these, but if I can ask one thing, please take note of where they are just in case,” she wrote in the post, which was a collaboration with the community-led project Community Shark Bite Kits.
The initiative aims to install kits at every beach across Australia, so they’re accessible to beachgoers.
“Fortunately for me, I was on a populated beach and received immediate medical care; in more isolated locations this might not always be the case,” she continued.
“Dr Ian Ferguson had taken note before my incident and was able to run and grab the kit to give me immediate care. The large combine dressing was used around my leg, secured by a crepe bandage.”
