A 34-year-old Australian woman who was severely injured in a suspected shark attack in Sydney earlier this month briefly awoke from a medically induced coma this week after undergoing several surgeries, her family said.
Leah Stewart, a teacher and mother of a one-year-old baby, was taken to hospital in critical condition on June 13 after she was injured in a shark attack, police said in a press release.
In line with a written message on a GoFundMe page arrange by Stewart’s brother, Josh, she sustained multiple injuries to her legs and arms, leading to extreme blood loss, several bone fractures and the surgical amputation of her arm.
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Stewart has undergone five operations for the reason that attack and is scheduled to have more, in keeping with her brother.
After over every week in a medically induced coma, doctors were in a position to extubate Stewart for a brief period, during which she awoke and told her family, including her mother and partner, “I really like you,” Josh wrote in an update on Tuesday, adding that she also asked if her one-year-old daughter, August, was OK.
“That is lots faster than anyone expected, and for us this looks like a miracle and is all the pieces so lots of us have hoped and prayed for over the past week,” her brother wrote.
“Leah stays in ICU and can proceed to require this high level of care and support for a while. She has undergone five days of surgery over the past week, and is scheduled for further surgeries today and more through the approaching weeks,” the statement continued.
Stewart was swimming near the shore when she was mauled and was pulled out of the water by members of the general public who administered first aid before emergency services arrived, in keeping with police.
Volunteer lifeguard Charlie Verco was paddleboarding nearby and was amongst those that helped bring Stewart to shore, in keeping with reports from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
Nearly AU$500,000 has been raised in support of Leah Stewart and her family.
Because the incident, Latest South Wales Premier Chris Minns has ruled out the opportunity of culling great white sharks, but not bull sharks, ABC said.
“They’re not a protected species and we’re currently undertaking a head count [to see] whether there’s been a rise within the harbour consequently of a healthier harbour and more fish stocks inside that tributary [and] what it means for swimming and recreating,” he said during a media briefing on Monday.
“But a cull of great whites just isn’t going to be the reply to this and we’re not contemplating that.”
In January, beaches in Sydney and dozens more along Australia’s east coast were closed after 4 people were attacked by sharks in two days.
Over the past 10 years, Australia has seen, on average, 27 shark incidents every year by which people were injured, with fewer than three of those leading to fatalities, in keeping with data from the Australian Shark Incident Database.
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