SYDNEY, June 25 (World Daily Times) — A woman mauled by a shark at Coogee Beach in Sydney has woken from a 10-day induced coma and told her mother and partner, “I love you,” according to an update from her brother, Joshua Stewart.
Joshua Stewart said doctors were able to extubate Leah Stewart and reduce her sedation, allowing her a brief period of wakefulness in the intensive care unit. He said the moment came after a week of life-support and repeated surgeries.
The family said Leah Stewart was attacked on June 13 at Coogee Beach and had remained in critical condition for days while doctors treated severe injuries, including the loss of an arm. Joshua Stewart said she is now awake, no longer in critical condition and able to communicate with family and medical staff.
ABC News reported that Stewart was reunited with her young daughter, August, for the first time since the attack. Joshua Stewart said it was the first night the mother and daughter had ever spent apart.
The family updates did not identify the hospital or treating clinicians, and they did not specify the shark species involved in the attack.
