Shark Attack Survivor: “It pulled me under the water” | Coogee Great White Shark Victim Leah Stewart

Four months ago, Leah Stewart went for a swim at Coogee Beach and woke up from an 11-day coma missing an arm. She was attacked by a great white shark in the middle of the day, close to shore, doing everything right. This is the full, unfiltered account — what it felt like to be dragged underwater, how she fought back, the near-death experience that almost took her, and the one thing that pulled her back. If you've ever wondered what it actually takes to survive the unsurvivable, this is it. Executive Producer: Samuel Morgan Head of Production: Jonah Mclachlan Join my exclusive Mentored community: https://mentored.com.au Subscribe to the Mentored newsletter here: https://the-mentored-platform-pty-ltd.myklpages.com/l/WWJGc5 See omnystudio.com/listener https://omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  Les Stewart, welcome to Straight Talk. How are you going?

• 0:02Speaker 01

  Thank you. I'm doing really well.

• 0:04Speaker 00

  That's the most important question. How are you going? How are you feeling?

• 0:06Speaker 01

  Yeah, I, it's been a whirlwind for months and I keep on reminding myself it's only been four months.

• 0:13Speaker 00

  Is that all? Wow.

• 0:14Speaker 01

  Um, and the fact that I can walk into your studio, speak with you, um, be home with my daughter, that's everything. So doing really good.

• 0:24Speaker 00

  All of a sudden, your life is, apart from your injuries and apart from the horrific event, your life has changed dramatically.

• 0:33Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 0:34Speaker 00

  How's that whirlwind like?

• 0:36Speaker 01

  Well, for me, I'm just a girl that went for a swim, woke up 11 days later from a coma. And I looked at my mum and my partner Fernando and I said, oh, does anyone know about this?

• 0:51Speaker 01

  They didn't, they just smiled and they're like, oh, everyone knows. And so it is very strange just to be thrust into the spotlight in that way. Um, in a way, it can be quite daunting. I get stopped on the street quite a bit. Um, but usually it's beautiful people just saying, I'm so glad you're here. I'm so glad you're doing well. And also I'm really thankful that I am able to, for example, speak with the Premier and hopefully make an impact so that no one has to go through what I went through or help mitigate that risk.

• 1:26Speaker 00

  From what I can see, you come from a fairly humble environment and certainly haven't let this go to your head. Do you ever think, well, do I sort of deserve this or why am I here? Like, was this meant to happen?

• 1:41Speaker 01

  It is so hard to comprehend. And even in regards to people that have survived a shark attack, I'm not the only one. But I felt like my story went quite wide and I'm still trying to comprehend with that. I met with a shark expert yesterday and I even had that question for him. I'm like, why do you think my story was picked up a little bit?

• 2:02Speaker 00

  Yeah, that's what I'm trying to think out.

• 2:04Speaker 01

  And he said to me, it's a popular beach. So the fact that it was couldy and the fact that you were so close to shore, technically doing everything right, he thinks that's why it went quite wide. But then he said, also, you know, you're just like an everyday person. And it reminds people that it could be any of us.

• 2:21Speaker 00

  I'm always fascinated with people who can deal with difficult situations and indeed your case, trauma. I'm fascinated with the background of that individual. I mean, where they come from and how they. I, when I see you on TV and other places, I'm like, what the hell? How was this person able to deal with this? As you said, it's only four months.

• 2:46Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 2:47Speaker 00

  You're sitting here bright eyed to me, that's my sense I'm getting from you. You feel very stable, level headed. In fact, you feel like you're on top of it. You know, and in fact, for me, you feel like you're nearly using it to do some good. What does your life's story look like prior to all this? So as a kid, who are you? What was your life like?

• 3:08Speaker 01

  Yeah. Um, so I'm very much from just an average family. Um, my mum's a nurse and my dad is actually a minister. And I grew up on a farm, so 800 acres, uh, very isolating.

• 3:22Speaker 00

  It's quite a big farm.

• 3:23Speaker 01

  It's a big farm. It was my grandparents' farm. So I grew up there. And you have to learn how to just be there by yourself. I had my brother. Uh, you have to be quite self-sufficient. Um, funnily enough, I grew up with a lot of wild animals. And I think that prepared me for what was to come.

• 3:43Speaker 00

  Wild animals in one.

• 3:44Speaker 01

  Yeah. So on a property, you come across brown snakes, black snakes, gowanas, wild dogs, dingoes. Um, so you always have in the back of your head, okay, if I come across this, what do I do? Um, in regards to preparing me for this, I don't think anything. Can you prepare you for this?

• 4:00Speaker 00

  Fair.

• 4:01Speaker 01

  I'm naturally very optimistic. And when I was in the coma, my friends were saying, if anyone can get through this, it's Leah. If anyone can make something good out of this, it's Leah. I don't know what it was that helped me to just be able to handle this. And if you'd asked me at the beginning of the year, oh, you're going to be attacked by a great white shark, you're going to lose your arm and some of your leg, I would have thought I would have crumbled. I wouldn't have thought that I'd come out the other side. But I think the reason that I'm doing so well is because I basically had a death experience. And I thought I was going to die. When I was under the water with the shark, I did think I was going to die.

• 4:45Speaker 01

  And when I was on the sand, my heart stopped. And so I know how bad the alternative is. So the fact that four months later, I'm walking, talking, speaking with different people, I'm so appreciative of that because I know how bad the alternative was.

• 5:02Speaker 00

  Do you feel as though you were so close to death? Like, what is it? What's that feeling like? I mean, was there a point at which you felt that, like a particular point?

• 5:11Speaker 01

  Yes. So I was on the sand and I had lost so much blood that I wasn't.

• 5:18Speaker 00

  This is up on the beach.

• 5:19Speaker 01

  This is on the beach. They'd pulled me from the water. I was lying on the sand. And all of a sudden, I felt like I was going through a black hole. And I was just zooming through it and I could just, I was going so fast through it. And I could feel almost like my body was floating above my physical body. And what was really painful and difficult, because I'd lost so much blood, I couldn't breathe. I didn't have enough oxygen and it was just horrible to be in my body. But then all of a sudden, I sort of started lifting out of my body and everything was moving really fast. And I started to feel almost euphoric. It started to feel really good.

• 6:04Speaker 00

  Wow.

• 6:04Speaker 01

  And I just, I almost wanted to give in to it because I thought, oh, this is easier. It's easier just to sort of float away. It felt like floating away. And that's when I had just the image of my daughter, August, my one-year-old daughter, August. And I knew that I couldn't leave her. And I knew if I gave in to that feeling.

• 6:28Speaker 00

  More obligation or like you.

• 6:30Speaker 01

  I just, it was, it was love.

• 6:32Speaker 00

  Love.

• 6:32Speaker 01

  It was.

• 6:33Speaker 00

  You, you couldn't bear to be without her.

• 6:35Speaker 01

  I couldn't. And it was, it was the thought of her growing up without a mum. She was only 16 months old when this happened. So she wouldn't have even probably remembered me. And I didn't want to leave her. And it was so difficult, but it sounds really strange, but I had to kind of will myself back into my body and not give in to that feeling of just slipping away. Um, and I willed myself back and then that would probably be the time that they were resuscitating me as well. And I remember opening my eyes and I just had a big gasp of air. Um.

• 7:15Speaker 01

  Yeah. So that's, that would be the death experience, but it was just going into darkness.

• 7:21Speaker 00

  I remember once Kerry Packett told me, because he had numerous heart attacks, one of which he, he was dead for a period of time before they revived him. And he said, there's nothing on the other side. Um, so you know, live your life here as well as you can.

• 7:41Speaker 00

  Are you a religious person? And was there any religious dash spiritual moment when you felt yourself above your own body?

• 7:49Speaker 01

  It's hard to answer that. For me, I, it's not like I saw like a light or felt a spiritual presence.

• 7:57Speaker 00

  Because some people say that.

• 7:58Speaker 01

  Yeah, no, I didn't have that experience. It was just going into darkness, but I felt.

• 8:03Speaker 00

  What do you mean that? So I don't understand. Like you mean, when you, you feel like you're going into a dark place or you're, or you, or everything, you're, there was no light coming into your eyes.

• 8:14Speaker 01

  There was no light coming into your eyes. You know how some people say, oh, like I died and I saw the light and that kind of thing? That didn't happen for me. I was zooming down like a black hole kind of thing. Like I was going into space or something, but I know it wasn't. Um, and then it just felt like I was coming to the end of the tunnel, which was just black. It was just almost like lights out, you're gone. That's what it felt like. I didn't have a religious experience, um, like some people describe.

• 8:47Speaker 01

  It's hard to say exactly what it was, but it was just lights out. Once you get to the tunnel, that's it. That's what it felt like for me.

• 8:54Speaker 00

  And, and when you thought of your daughter, obviously that was an overwhelming thing. But did you, did you have a vision of her?

• 9:02Speaker 01

  I did.

• 9:05Speaker 01

  It's, I had this little vision of her. We have a playroom for her and it's so clear in my head. She was wearing this pink outfit. And she was just there sort of smiling at me in the playroom. And it was as clear as day. I could see that and I thought, no, I want to get back to that place.

• 9:25Speaker 00

  Wow, that's like, makes me get goosebumps.

• 9:29Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 9:29Speaker 00

  Like overwhelming.

• 9:31Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 9:31Speaker 00

  Your love and affection and your, you know, your maternal instinct may well have saved your life in some respects. I mean, obviously the, the lifeguards are trying to save your life in a physical sense. But it clearly must require some will. We often talk about the importance of the lifeguards and all the equipment and everything that happened. And you were pretty lucky. In some respects, you had Charlie who was on the beach, in the water. You know, a world champion paddleboarder. And then he got you in, then you had some great lifeguards on the beach who could actually knew how to resuscitate you. But it seems to me that there's another side to all this is that the person who's being treated needs to have an overwhelming will to survive.

• 10:13Speaker 01

  I would say so, yes. It was an active decision to fight to be here. Because I was very much in the balance where I could have just given into it and that was it.

• 10:24Speaker 00

  Is that because it was too much pain or shock or whatever the case may be? Or was it, okay, this is not a bad feeling. I don't mind giving into it. What, what was that?

• 10:32Speaker 01

  Firstly, yes, you're in a terrible place physically. I couldn't breathe. And it's easier just to be like, okay, I'm just gonna float away kind of thing. It felt like that. You're just gonna float away. It's done.

• 10:44Speaker 00

  It's over.

• 10:44Speaker 01

  And it's over. So it was easy in that sense. But it was also the active decision to say, no, I'm going to stay in my body. I'm, I couldn't breathe. I was thinking, I've got to try and just like stay awake. It's like if you passed out, I felt like if I passed out, I'd just slip away. So it's like, no, you've got to try and wake yourself up. You've got to try and stay.

• 11:07Speaker 00

  So, so stay conscious.

• 11:09Speaker 01

  Yeah, it was like that. And I think I was very much on the edge of it could have gone either way. And if I gave into it, I don't know, it was just like a fight in my body.

• 11:22Speaker 01

  And I've been told by the doctors that I actually managed to stay awake. When I got to ER, I was still awake. And when they got me to the operating room, they couldn't put me to sleep because they couldn't access any veins. So I actually was awake for the first part of my operation to save my life. And they said it was your fight response that was keeping you alive. Like obviously it's the blood and the transfusions they're giving, but they're like, it was also you that was just fighting to be here. And I can't articulate the science behind that. But it felt very real to me that it was an active decision to stay.

• 12:00Speaker 00

  Wow. That's amazing. Can I, do you mind if, and if I ask you any questions that you don't feel comfortable, let me know. But I'm, I'm extraordinarily curious about everything. And.

• 12:13Speaker 01

  Me too, it's fine.

• 12:13Speaker 00

  Yeah. So if we can go back to the moment you were in the water.

• 12:17Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 12:18Speaker 00

  How it all happened, like, do you mind taking me through it step by step?

• 12:22Speaker 01

  So I, that day, it's very frustrating to me. I had three other things that I should have been doing that day and all three cancelled on me. So I love to swim. I.

• 12:36Speaker 00

  I can do laps and stuff.

• 12:37Speaker 01

  Yeah, do laps. So that's what I do for exercise. Usually I go to the pool, Wiley's Baths. And I was on my way to the pool and I looked at the ocean and it was crystal clear and the most beautiful pristine day. The last day you would expect this to happen. I thought, oh, do you know what? I'll just do it in the ocean today.

• 12:54Speaker 00

  Other people swimming too?

• 12:55Speaker 01

  Yeah, there was probably about thirty to fifty people out there that day. Doing laps a lot further out than I was. I was doing my laps. I swam up and down the bay, but I was quite close to the sand. And I was on my final lap, so I'd probably swum about one point two kilometers before this.

• 13:19Speaker 01

  And I heard a girl that was further out in the water scream. And I quickly looked and I could see the fin of the shark behind her. I thought I was dreaming. I, it just didn't feel real.

• 13:35Speaker 00

  You got goggles on, I guess?

• 13:36Speaker 01

  I had goggles, yeah, goggles, swim cap, the whole thing.

• 13:41Speaker 01

  We started screaming in the water, waving, trying to get attention. But it didn't seem like anyone was reacting. I couldn't see anyone running to get things. I was hoping there would be a jet ski around. There wasn't. So for about a minute, we were screaming for help as the shark circled the girls that were further out and then went in between them and I. I was about fifteen to twenty meters away from them. Went around them and was kind of circling in between us.

• 14:11Speaker 01

  I couldn't see anyone coming, so I thought I'm gonna try and start moving towards the beach. In retrospect, I wish I hadn't have done that because potentially if I just stayed really still, it would have just swum off. But as soon as I started moving, I did about four strokes of freestyle. It just launched towards me. And I don't know if it was intuition or the movement in the water, but I just thought, oh, quickly stop, turn around. And I could see it as it was coming really quickly towards me. And I noticed it from about three meters away, two meters away. And it got so close and it just kept coming closer and closer. And at this point, it was moving slowly, inquisitively. It got to about thirty centimeters from my face.

• 14:55Speaker 00

  But remember we're talking about this close?

• 14:57Speaker 01

  This close, like it was there.

• 14:58Speaker 00

  Was your head in the water?

• 15:00Speaker 01

  Yes, I had my goggles on. I was trying to.

• 15:03Speaker 00

  So you could see it?

• 15:04Speaker 01

  Yeah, as clear as day. The images of its face still really haunts me.

• 15:09Speaker 00

  What is that? Tell me, what, explain, can you sort of?

• 15:11Speaker 01

  Thing that really stuck out to me was its eyes. Because we were making eye contact for quite a long time, yes. And everything in your body is saying, turn around, leave this. But I knew that if I turned, it could potentially attack me from behind. And if it's going to attack me, I'd rather it come front on. So I can try and do something. But we were just staring at each other and it was moving slowly around me, just non-stop looking at each other. And it got even closer than thirty centimeters. So, I don't know, like even closer. And as it got closer, I felt like it was about to figure me out.

• 15:53Speaker 01

  I don't think it was looking to eat me. I think it was trying to figure out what I was. And because sharks obviously don't have hands, they use their mouths to find out what it is. And I, it kind of looked like it would have gone for my face or my body. And in that moment, I'd actually thought, well, which limb am I willing to lose? I'm right-handed. So I thought, let's block it with my left arm.

• 16:18Speaker 00

  You thought that? Wow.

• 16:19Speaker 01

  Yeah. And it was just a really quick like, oh, which, like, how am I going to live with?

• 16:25Speaker 00

  It turned into it, did you?

• 16:26Speaker 01

  Even part of me was like, should I kick it? I'm glad I didn't.

• 16:29Speaker 00

  Why?

• 16:30Speaker 01

  I think now that I've lost my left arm, I think you can still, you can just like get up in the night and you can walk to the bathroom.

• 16:37Speaker 00

  So you're better off to lose a leg than a leg.

• 16:39Speaker 01

  Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So if I was to choose a limb, I think left arm is the one that I would have chosen. I, I put up my left arm in front of my face to kind of block it. And that's when it grabbed onto my forearm and it de-gloved my forearm.

• 16:59Speaker 00

  It bit it off?

• 17:00Speaker 01

  It didn't bite off my arm, so I still had my hand attached, but it pulled off the muscle, the skin, the veins, everything. The only thing left was bone.

• 17:09Speaker 00

  Whoa.

• 17:11Speaker 01

  So it was my elbow and then bone and then my hand was still attached. It still had the skin and everything on it, but there was nothing, no tissue. And I just looked down. I could see my hand floating and then the bone. Oh, and, but I was still in so much danger then, like you don't have time to be dwelling on that. But I just had the quick image in my mind saying, okay, well, I've lost my arm. But I don't want to die. So it did that and then it pulled away for a few seconds.

• 17:45Speaker 00

  Did it just swim away or?

• 17:46Speaker 01

  No, it just kind of pulled back less than a meter. And I'm treading water and then.

• 17:54Speaker 00

  So you couldn't stand up or anything?

• 17:55Speaker 01

  No. It, it wasn't that deep though, but I don't know, probably about three meters, four meters deep.

• 18:04Speaker 01

  The next moment, it started barging me with its body.

• 18:08Speaker 00

  Like pushing you?

• 18:09Speaker 01

  Pushing me around, kind of like what you would imagine it does to a seal. It's just pushing me in the water and I'm above the water at this time because I'm still kind of staying above water and it's pushing me around. And that's when I started thinking, wow, this is really serious. I think it had smelled the blood in the water and that had triggered it to become a bit more frenzied.

• 18:30Speaker 00

  Yeah, a bit more excited.

• 18:31Speaker 01

  Yeah, pushing me around and I, the thing that haunts me today is like the sound of my own screams at that point. Because I just was screaming for anyone to come help me. And I'm above water, just getting knocked around and its body was so strong. It was just pure muscle.

• 18:53Speaker 01

  And it felt impossible to me. I'm, I'm just like a person, not a particularly strong person. And I'm like, there's no chance.

• 19:02Speaker 01

  And then the next moment, it went below me and then came from below and grabbed onto my left upper thigh with its mouth and it pulled me underwater really quickly. And the strange thing about when you have an experience like this, your brain works so quickly. And it just, it's like I knew what to do at that time and I knew that I couldn't breathe in water. And I knew that I had to take a really quick breath. So as it was pulling me under, I just quickly held my breath. And it pulled me under the water and it slammed me into the sand. And I was facing down, I was facing down towards the sand. It was holding on to my left upper thigh.

• 19:49Speaker 01

  And that's when I thought I'm definitely going to die. And I, it was just a horrible, at that point before that, I just had pure fear. It was terror. And when I realised I'm going to die, the terror left me and it became anger. Because I wanted to be with my daughter, I wanted to be with my family, I wasn't ready to die. And I thought, well, the only thing I can do is fight it with absolutely everything. I don't have like anything else I can do. Um, so I started by punching it on the body. And I realised that wasn't doing anything, it was just so strong, wasn't doing anything.

• 20:31Speaker 01

  So I managed to twist myself around and I managed to start getting the snout. But as I was punching the snout, I missed and I hit quite a few teeth. And I know this is a podcast, but you can see I've got the scars from hitting teeth on my hand and on my arms. And that slashed open all of my tendons as I was doing that. But I just kept punching on the snout and hoping that I was hitting something. And I, I, it's hard to say how many times, but it was quite a few punches. Eventually it just let me go and I popped back up and.

• 21:06Speaker 00

  Did you go for its eyes at any stage?

• 21:07Speaker 01

  I was going for that, I was going for the snout and the eyes, but I couldn't see. There was so much blood in the water and I was twisting myself around that I couldn't really see where I was hitting. I was just hoping that I was getting the right spot. Um, I found out now by speaking to experts that if you're attacked by a great white, their reflex is that if you put up a fight, they will leave you alone because they don't want to get injured themselves. Um, which seems crazy because they're an apex predator. But their instinct is to leave for a little while, wait for you to bleed out and then come back.

• 21:37Speaker 00

  Wow.

• 21:38Speaker 01

  So hopefully no one has to use that information, but if it does get you, please punch back.

• 21:43Speaker 00

  Fight, fight. And, and do they say where to hit it?

• 21:46Speaker 01

  The snout and the eyes.

• 21:47Speaker 00

  The, the, the, the.

• 21:49Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, just around there. Um, the scary thing about a shark is that it's pretty much all jaw, all teeth. So it's very hard to actually get to the snout because you've got to go past the mouth. Um, but yeah, they have a lot of nerve endings around their snouts.

• 22:05Speaker 00

  Did, did you have a Mick Fanning moment at any stage?

• 22:08Speaker 01

  Yeah, that actually, thank you to Mick, that was a big reason why I knew to hit it on the snout. Because all those years ago, I'd seen him do it and put it in the back of my mind, oh, okay, that's what you do if it attacks you.

• 22:19Speaker 00

  Sort of fight back.

• 22:20Speaker 01

  Fight back. Um, for a great white, it works, but not necessarily if it's a bull shark.

• 22:25Speaker 00

  Oh, really?

• 22:26Speaker 01

  They'll keep going.

• 22:28Speaker 00

  They're much more aggressive, aren't they?

• 22:29Speaker 01

  They're much more aggressive and they're not put off. Uh, great whites are a lot more strategic and a bit smarter. So they think, oh, I'll just leave her for a few minutes and then come back.

• 22:37Speaker 00

  Let her bleed out.

• 22:38Speaker 01

  Let her bleed out. And, um, after speaking to experts, the way that I was bitten was actually how they would attack a seal. So they go for the flippers and the fins.

• 22:48Speaker 00

  Ah.

• 22:48Speaker 01

  And so it's gone for my leg and my arm to, um, put me off so that I can't swim. So it did follow the, um, pattern that sharks usually follow when they attack. Um, I popped back up and then thankfully Charlie Verco was there, um, about 20 metres away, once I popped back up.

• 23:06Speaker 00

  And, and so how, how did the shark leave you alone? Like, uh, what happened there?

• 23:11Speaker 01

  Yeah, so it let go of my leg.

• 23:16Speaker 00

  That's after you whacked it?

• 23:18Speaker 01

  After it whacked me, it was shaking me, um, quite ferociously, just shaking, shaking, shaking. Um, once I got potentially a really good hit in, it just let go and it retreated. It, I didn't have eyes on it once I popped back up. But I've been told by other people that it was lurking around within a 30 metre vicinity. Um, but I didn't have eyes on it once I popped back up, but I could sense that it was still there.

• 23:48Speaker 00

  And then came Charlie.

• 23:49Speaker 01

  Thank goodness.

• 23:50Speaker 00

  And did he put you on the board or what happened?

• 23:52Speaker 01

  Well, Charlie was about 30 to 50 metres away and amazing that he managed to stay in watching that happen. Um, I popped back up and again, I was screaming for help. Um, I was starting to feel really faint because I'd lost so much blood. And Charlie was there and, um, he said, can you just swim a little bit to me? Because obviously he didn't want to come straight into where the shark was, he couldn't see it. Um, so I swam about five to 10 metres.

• 24:20Speaker 00

  With one arm, I guess.

• 24:21Speaker 01

  One arm, my leg was dangling, yeah. Um, managed to swim about five, 10 metres to him, he came most of the way to me. Um, he wasn't able to get me onto the board, so he asked me to hang on to the board.

• 24:36Speaker 00

  Yeah, he told me that he's, I shouldn't hang on to the board.

• 24:39Speaker 01

  Yeah, but he didn't know my injuries. And I'd severed all my tendons in my right hand as well, so I couldn't physically grasp onto it. And I just have the clearest memory of trying to hold on to the board, but my fingers weren't working. And I just kept slipping off, slipping off, slipping off. And it was so frustrating because at the same time, I'm thinking any second this shark's coming back to take a leg.

• 24:59Speaker 00

  Totally.

• 25:01Speaker 01

  And I'm like, please, just work my hands. Thankfully Charlie noticed and he then repositioned me to hold on to the drink bottle cage. And I was able to wrap my arm around that and hold on for a while. But then I started to lose consciousness and just started slipping off the board. And he managed to turn the board around, hold me with one of his arms and paddle with the other arm. And bring me back to safety.

• 25:28Speaker 00

  Wow.

• 25:29Speaker 01

  Incredible.

• 25:30Speaker 00

  Do you ever think some other greater power that someone like Charlie was in the water at the time?

• 25:35Speaker 01

  Yeah, and the bravery it would have taken to do that. And then also the world champion paddleboarder. I, I know how lucky and how fortunate I am. I was also really fortunate, they had a, um, pre-medical trauma specialist on the beach.

• 25:51Speaker 00

  Wow.

• 25:52Speaker 01

  Um, he is an absolute expert and he was able to call the helicopter directly. Because he had their number, he works in the Care Flight helicopters, got them to bring blood to the beach within six minutes. And he gave me an intra-ocial blood transfusion through my collarbone.

• 26:11Speaker 00

  What?

• 26:12Speaker 01

  To give me blood on the beach.

• 26:13Speaker 00

  What the hell?

• 26:14Speaker 01

  I know, and he would just happen to be there.

• 26:16Speaker 00

  What?

• 26:17Speaker 01

  I know, and.

• 26:18Speaker 00

  That's mad.

• 26:19Speaker 01

  It is absolutely incredible, he is an incredible human. Um, and he's very humble as well, he's, I've spoken to him and he says, oh, I'm just doing what anyone would do. I'm like, no, you're incredible. Uh, if he didn't do that, I would have had severe brain damage or bled to death.

• 26:34Speaker 00

  Recently, there was, as you know, there was a, um, an event to sort of honour our first responders, like the lifesavers in this case. And people underestimate how important they are to us in this, in this country, particularly in this country where, you know, sharks have become more, more often seen. Do you, have you thought about that, how important our lifesaving community is to us here in Australia?

• 26:54Speaker 01

  Oh, absolutely. The beach and the water is such a huge part of our culture. And we have a lot of people that come to the water with different levels of experience. But also in my regard, it doesn't matter how much experience I had.

• 27:08Speaker 00

  Hmm.

• 27:09Speaker 01

  That can happen. Um, and if it weren't for the lifeguards and the people on the beach, I would be dead.

• 27:15Speaker 00

  And the helicopter, did it land on the beach?

• 27:17Speaker 01

  Uh, it landed on Coogee Oval.

• 27:18Speaker 00

  Coogee Oval.

• 27:19Speaker 01

  Um.

• 27:20Speaker 00

  Is that the Westpac, uh?

• 27:21Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 27:21Speaker 00

  Care Flight thing, whatever it is.

• 27:22Speaker 01

  Fairly sure. Um.

• 27:24Speaker 00

  Wow.

• 27:25Speaker 01

  So if it weren't for the first responders, I would not be here. Um, and if it wasn't for how quickly they worked, I would have brain damage and it wouldn't be the same Leah. And I'm so thankful that it is the same Leah. And at the moment, I'm speaking with the premier about how we can really tighten that first response. Because I know how lucky I was that I had those people on that day. Um, but most shark attack victims, they die or have brain damage because of lack of blood. So just making sure that we can get blood and fluids to the beach as soon as possible. Or also working with the Shark Bite Kit, which is, um, basically, um, a, a man on the mid-north coast,

• 28:09Speaker 01

  saw his friend who was attacked by a shark and they just used a dog leash as a tourniquet. And he came up with the initiative that making sure we have enough tourniquets on the beaches so that it can be used if we ever need it. So making sure that lifeguards or the kits are on beaches so that they can be used if there is a shark bite.

• 28:26Speaker 00

  So the Minns Government's looking at sponsoring this sort of stuff.

• 28:29Speaker 01

  Yeah, and they've already put in place quite a few initiatives to make sure that every beach around the Sydney area have, um, the appropriate tourniquets and the right equipment. Um, I've also mentioned having the tourniquets in the lifesaver bags so that they can just pull it out as quickly as possible if needed.

• 28:47Speaker 00

  What do small business owners actually need? They need someone to tune to when they're stuck, people who understand what they're going through. And the tools that make running a business a little easier and cheaper. That's what I put together with Mentor. You can ask me questions on our monthly Zoom calls, connect with hundreds of other business owners in our community, access an extensive catalogue of resources and potentially save thousands of dollars from over 600 plus software discounts we brought together. Check it out at mentored.com.au. How do you feel about sharks now? I mean, apart from obviously you're, you know, respectful of them and fearful of them. But what do you think about sharks being able to get into our beaches?

• 29:27Speaker 01

  Ah, look, it's a hard one and.

• 29:32Speaker 01

  When you go into the ocean, you know that there is an element of risk. Um, it does frighten me that we've seen an increase in shark incidents in the last few years. Um, and I would hate for anyone to go through what I've gone through. It was absolutely terrifying and horrific, but I also don't want to fear monger about all sharks, because not all sharks do this. And a lot of the time, they can just leave you alone. Um, I don't particularly like the shark that did this to me, but I don't necessarily have a hatred towards all sharks. I just want to make sure that humans can go into the water safely, and that we have the right procedures in place to try and keep us safe.

• 30:16Speaker 00

  Do you think that people like yourself and others should not swim in these environments anymore? Or do you think we should continue to do that?

• 30:22Speaker 01

  Um, I think it's about being educated on when you should swim. Um, I have heard that the coming summer that we have an El Nino weather system, which can bring more bull sharks closer. And um, after a lot of rain, you can have bull sharks in the water near estuaries. So I think people should be educated and know that they are out there. Um, I don't think you should stop going into the water because of that risk, but I love that we now have the drones that are there. On the day I was attacked, there wasn't a drone. If there was, it would have spotted the shark. So I would feel a lot more comfortable swimming in Coogee today, because after my incident, now they have the drones. And hopefully, the government are working towards A I drones,

• 31:06Speaker 01

  which would take out the user error and be able to spot the difference between a Walbe Gong or a Great White. Um, I don't think people should stop going into the water. That's part of our culture and you can do it safely. But we just need to make sure we've got the right practices in place that we can do it safely, whether that's nets or drones um, going in at the right time.

• 31:30Speaker 00

  I I once remember talking to an actuary who they measure risk all the time. And um, he's a mathematician and he said to me, Mark, in the assessment of risk, it's not just the probability of the event occurring, even if that's just like one in a hundred chances of a of shark being there when you're swimming. He said to me, you've also got to multiply that probability by the gravity of the event occurring.

• 31:55Speaker 01

  I I would tend to agree with you now. And there are certain beaches that I wouldn't have swum out, and especially not at sunrise or sunset. Um, but the difficult thing for me was I was doing what they say is everything right. The middle of the day, close to shore.

• 32:15Speaker 00

  That goes to show you.

• 32:16Speaker 01

  It wasn't murky, it wasn't raining. And what I've been told is it goes against what they have always said is shark behaviour. Um, so it's really hard for me to wrestle with that. And now that I know this, I quite often see people out swimming in the water way further than I was.

• 32:37Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 32:37Speaker 01

  Um, and I do worry for them, but I know we can't. We can't just cancel everything we're doing, but we just need to make sure we put in the right practices, that it is safe, but we do need to know that there is an increase in sharks and shark incidents lately.

• 32:55Speaker 00

  And and I think like a podcast like this and someone like you, for example, talking about these things. I think it's important for those people to understand the risk. Cause a lot of times, I mean, maybe even you, you probably never really thought about the risk. I mean, I mean, I do, I've done the Bondi, I've done the North Bondi, South Bondi event, the Call Classic a couple of times. And uh, I never thought about it because I've never heard of anyone being attacked by a shark. But I think um, someone like you speaking about these sorts of things, actually, we need to have put it in front of people. People need to be aware of that this stuff does happen now.

• 33:31Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 33:32Speaker 00

  And more often.

• 33:33Speaker 01

  Yeah, unfortunately, in the last three years, we've had um, quite a few people be attacked in Sydney. Um, some of them have lost their lives, some of them have survived. Uh, and I think people do need to be aware. Um, and for example, I wouldn't be jumping into Sydney Harbour over summer or murky water, that kind of thing. After it's rains, I'd be really careful about going in. Um, I don't know if my situation was just a completely random. Completely random and won't happen again.

• 34:10Speaker 00

  Total bad luck.

• 34:11Speaker 01

  Yeah, I don't know.

• 34:12Speaker 00

  Do you mind if I just ask you, what are the extent of your injuries?

• 34:14Speaker 01

  Yes. Um, so my arm is amputated below the elbow. And then my leg was a thirty centimetre by forty centimetre wound with quite.

• 34:27Speaker 00

  Like a bite.

• 34:28Speaker 01

  A bite. If you've ever seen a surfboard that has a bite out of it, that's what my leg looked like.

• 34:33Speaker 00

  Did the flesh missing?

• 34:35Speaker 01

  Um, yes.

• 34:36Speaker 00

  Muscle missing?

• 34:37Speaker 01

  Yeah, so I lost my outer quad and my outer hamstring. Um, the original wound went behind my bone. So when they pulled me out of the water, my bone was exposed. Um, thankfully, I have amazing doctors at St Vincent's. And they used a new technology um, to close my leg. It's called a derma close. And basically, it's little hooks they put on either side of your skin and like a self winding mechanism, like a Swiss watch. And it slowly pulls your own skin together.

• 35:08Speaker 00

  Wow.

• 35:09Speaker 01

  They'd never used that on a circular wound, but they thought, oh, let's give this a go. Usually works on a straight line sort of thing. It pulled my leg in probably sixty to seventy percent. Um, so now um, my leg, it is actually almost healed. I've got a huge sort of deviate in my leg and I've lost the outer muscle and the quad muscle. Um, but my own skin was pulled in to cover it. And then um, now my own skin's doing the job to sort of cover.

• 35:39Speaker 00

  You can function okay with the legs?

• 35:41Speaker 01

  I can. Um, but I can't walk as much as I used to. My leg gets pretty sore. My knee sort of pops in and out of place kind of thing. And I sometimes lose balance. Uh, but with a lot of effort and physio, I think that I can improve it to be almost, almost back to normal, doing most tasks. Potentially, running will be quite difficult or skiing or that kind of thing. Um, I do have a bit of pain associated with it. Um, but I can function pretty well.

• 36:12Speaker 00

  And your arm? Can you still feel your hand?

• 36:14Speaker 01

  Um.

• 36:15Speaker 00

  No, I'm serious, because I mean, I've heard that said.

• 36:17Speaker 01

  Yes, I can still feel my hand. I can still feel exactly where my fingers are. And I can imagine moving my fingers and I can feel what that sensation is. I'm thankful that the phantom pain isn't too bad. At the beginning, it was horrible. It was like I was constantly being electrocuted or stabbed. That was the feeling of the phantom pain. That's gone now. And now that I'm working towards a prosthetic, it's good to hold on to that feeling of your hand. Because that's how you control the myoelectric prosthetic, um, where I can have the prosthetic that moves for me. I've got to imagine sort of moving my thumb and the nerve ending will twitch and then that controls the prosthetic.

• 36:57Speaker 00

  And how are you in terms of your mental health?

• 37:01Speaker 01

  Oh, absolutely. Um, I have had a lot of really bad days. And I've had days where I just cry all day and feel sorry for myself. But now I'm at a point where I have more good days than bad days. And a big turning point for me was coming home from hospital. I was in hospital for two months.

• 37:21Speaker 00

  Wow.

• 37:22Speaker 01

  Yeah, and in the grand scheme of things, it's not that long, but when you're in it, it feels like forever. I'm home now and I'm with my daughter and I'm doing more and more things. So I'm feeling a lot more optimistic and positive about it. Um, I still have a few triggers that if I see it or feel it, I'm right back in the ocean, re-experiencing it. Um, I have P T S D, but um, I'm working with a therapist at the moment and doing E M D R.

• 37:52Speaker 00

  What's that?

• 37:53Speaker 01

  So it's about um, you recall the experience and then they move something. So for me, it's just a pen and I follow it with my eyes, the pen. It's, this sounds very basic, but it's worked very well for me. Um, and then basically, the idea is that you take the memory that is very real and traumatic and it moves it to a part of your brain that is a long term memory. So that now I can recall the event. And it doesn't feel like I'm going to die because that's the feeling I would have when I would think about it and sit about, sit in it. I felt like I was gonna die and I had the same panic that I had in the water. But now, after doing EMDR, I can now recall the event and it just feels like I'm recalling.

• 38:34Speaker 00

  A story.

• 38:35Speaker 01

  A story or like Christmas lunch when I was ten. It's just like, okay, that happened, but I don't have the trauma associated with it. And I was apprehensive at the first, but then I tried it and it's worked really well for me.

• 38:47Speaker 00

  I imagine you can have a nightmare about this.

• 38:50Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 38:50Speaker 00

  Like wake up in the middle of the night, like thinking about it or dreaming about it.

• 38:54Speaker 01

  Yeah, so that is the area that I've struggled with the most actually, um, is my sleep. And a lot of people that have trauma and PTSD, sleep becomes a real issue. Um, every night I wake up at about four AM and I'm wide awake. Um, I think that I've been dreaming about it, but I can't recall the dream. But I just wake up with a fright and I'm being sweating, um, and then I can't get back to sleep from four AM.

• 39:21Speaker 00

  Well, you can ring me anytime you like, cause I'm awake three AM every day. So I have been for the last twenty five years.

• 39:25Speaker 01

  Oh, fabulous.

• 39:26Speaker 00

  Thinking about work.

• 39:27Speaker 01

  Yeah, good.

• 39:28Speaker 00

  We can have a chat. I say, how are you feeling? Because I'm, I'm always looking for someone to talk to at that time. I mean, I usually turn the telly on to something stupid, but like, um, yeah, and it's mine's not PTSD, maybe it is, I don't know about it, but it's, it minds business related. But I'm always thinking about stuff, but, um, and I get, well, you're only young too. You don't wanna have to have that, um, lack of sleep during this period, particularly when you're trying to physically recover from stuff as well.

• 39:51Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 39:52Speaker 00

  Cause you need your sleep.

• 39:53Speaker 01

  Oh, definitely. Um, it's slowly getting better. Um, but I guess for anyone that does have this situation, you just try not to think about it too much. Because if you dwell on, oh, I'm awake, I'm awake, it makes it worse. So I think maybe when I'm up at four AM, I need to be like you and start doing something productive.

• 40:12Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 40:12Speaker 01

  Yeah. Um, luckily, well, not luckily, but before this, I was, um, up with my daughter every two, three hours. So I was already used to lack of sleep. So it wasn't anything.

• 40:22Speaker 00

  What about school? Will you go back to school? We're teaching, that is.

• 40:24Speaker 01

  Um, I love teaching. At the moment, it's physically and emotionally quite hard. But it's definitely something I would love to get back to. I'm not sure in what capacity. But, um, as a teacher, that's something that's always with you. So I would even love to use my experience to help kids to be able to get over some hard things. Um, to help with resilience or whatever that might look like. Um, in regards to back in the classroom, I'd love to be able to get to that point. Um, but just with energy levels and the physical demands of it at the moment, it's quite difficult.

• 41:00Speaker 00

  What's a prognosis for someone who suffered, uh, like the physical prognosis and the, um, let's call it the mental PTSD prognosis? What do they say? Like you need a year?

• 41:11Speaker 01

  They, they never give you a timeframe. I'm always asking, how long will this be? No one wants to tell you.

• 41:16Speaker 00

  They probably don't wanna commit.

• 41:17Speaker 01

  But I'm healing a lot quicker than anyone expected.

• 41:22Speaker 00

  No, I, I think you're four months. This is amazing.

• 41:24Speaker 01

  Yeah. Um, so in regards to mental and physical, um, everyone's been quite shocked, I guess, that I've bounced back as quickly as I have. Um, in, it, it, they can't put a timeframe on it, but if I continue with how I'm going, hopefully I'll be back to the regular Leah, walking around, doing walks, doing swims in the pool, maybe in the next six months.

• 41:53Speaker 00

  Uh, you, you taught at a school in Hurstville?

• 41:56Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 41:57Speaker 00

  Uh, have the kids reached out to you?

• 41:59Speaker 01

  Yeah, I actually went back to visit them.

• 42:00Speaker 00

  Oh, nice.

• 42:01Speaker 01

  And I was putting it off because I thought that they would be scared and it's a hard thing to talk about. And I didn't want them to be traumatized by seeing.

• 42:09Speaker 00

  They're little kids, I guess.

• 42:10Speaker 01

  Little kids, primary school.

• 42:12Speaker 00

  Wow.

• 42:12Speaker 01

  Um, and I went back and they were amazing. They were just so excited to see me. And they had the most inappropriate questions, but, um.

• 42:22Speaker 00

  There's no filter.

• 42:24Speaker 01

  Yeah, no filter. But you know, that prepares me for, um, you know, future interviews I do. They just threw out the worst.

• 42:30Speaker 00

  By the way, I've been trying to make sure I filter, but I'm usually no filter, but I've been trying my best to be filtering.

• 42:35Speaker 01

  I'm a very open person, so it's fine. Um, but it was just really good to see them. And like, instead of them being worried or scared, they were just curious. And I think it's good for, um, kids to speak to someone that might have a difference or, um, a disability. And to not hide away from that. And like, it was good for them to get those questions out. Um, and to see that I'm still the same person and it was healing for me as well.

• 43:02Speaker 00

  It's good. Yeah, I was gonna say, it's probably really good for you too.

• 43:04Speaker 01

  Yeah, it was.

• 43:05Speaker 00

  But would you say, I mean, a lot of people listening to this show, um, particularly this episode, I can imagine, um, probably consider themselves in a traumatic situation. It could be work, it could be family, it could be any number of things. What do you say is some of the basic tenets that you need to establish before these things happen in your life? You need to establish like maybe family, friends, community, whatever it is. What are the basic tenets? Do you think that actually have helped you get through this?

• 43:36Speaker 01

  Hmm. I guess the first one would be the community. I felt like I was the most supported person in Australia at one point, and not everyone's going to have access to that. Um, but when you have those really dark days, having someone that can check in on you or help you with different things. I had a mother's group that was cooking me meals every single day.

• 44:02Speaker 00

  Wow.

• 44:02Speaker 01

  Bringing it to the hospital.

• 44:04Speaker 00

  Did you know them before?

• 44:05Speaker 01

  I did.

• 44:06Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 44:06Speaker 01

  Um, they all had babies born in January, the same time as August. Um, they made a spreadsheet of when they could come and babysit, when they could take her on a playdate, when they could provide meals. And on your darkest days, just having a community and also being able to ask for help, which is something.

• 44:24Speaker 00

  You being out of us for help.

• 44:25Speaker 01

  Me being out of us.

• 44:26Speaker 00

  Is that something normal for you?

• 44:27Speaker 01

  No.

• 44:28Speaker 00

  Yeah, cause you're the other, you're the helper.

• 44:30Speaker 01

  Yes. Um, and you just had to relinquish control and say, yeah, I do actually need help. And people love to help. If I just pushed everyone away and said, I'm fine, um, I don't think I would have.

• 44:46Speaker 00

  They, they, they don't admire you anymore for doing that. They do not admire you anymore for doing that.

• 44:51Speaker 01

  No. And, and like, if I was just a regular person now, thinking back when I had August and was a new mum, I was doing everything on my own, but I wish I'd actually accessed the community and asked for help when I needed it.

• 45:05Speaker 00

  So have a community, be prepared to ask for help when you need it.

• 45:10Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 45:11Speaker 00

  Sort of a little bit like get over yourself a bit.

• 45:13Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 45:13Speaker 00

  Like, you know, I'm not, I'm not too tough. I can ask for help.

• 45:17Speaker 01

  And then also I think having faith in yourself and backing yourself that you can do really hard things. I never would have thought that I could have gotten through this. And I've surprised myself how I've mentally and physically gotten through this. Um, but sometimes you just need to back yourself. Like there are really hard things, but you're stronger than you think.

• 45:43Speaker 00

  That's amazing too. You know, you are stronger than you think. The fact that you had the wherewithal when the shark had grabbed hold of your leg and was pushing you into the sand to somehow twist your body around and start attacking its snout. If someone had have said to you three hours before this event, hey, do you reckon you could do this? You'd be thinking, come on, that's, that's impossible.

• 46:06Speaker 01

  Yeah. And even as I was doing it, I thought it was impossible.

• 46:10Speaker 00

  But what is it that gets someone like you to back yourself? What, what is it? Where does that come from?

• 46:19Speaker 00

  Did your parents always say you can do anything you want? You know, like no matter what you try, you'll be good at it. Go for it.

• 46:24Speaker 01

  No, my parents were always trying to rein me in.

• 46:28Speaker 00

  Yeah, stop. Yeah. Be careful, be careful.

• 46:30Speaker 01

  Yeah, I think I've always been someone that's just like, let's go, let's get it done. I'm an impatient person with myself. Um, I don't know where that came from. Um, my parents were sometimes saying, slow down Leah, like maybe don't jump into that. Um, so I think it's just, um, something I had. I don't know what it was exactly, exactly. Um, but I think all of us, when you're put into a situation where it's life and death, I think we actually do have something instinctively that is really strong. Um, even the fact that when I was under the water, I punched the shark so hard that I broke my finger.

• 47:09Speaker 00

  Wow.

• 47:09Speaker 01

  That was the adrenaline and it's just that fight to survive. And I think we all do have that. Um, and hopefully you don't, you're not put in a situation where you have to use it. But there is something that you can unlock within yourself that you might not know is there.

• 47:23Speaker 00

  Where to from here?

• 47:25Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 47:26Speaker 00

  Um. I mean, you you got enough money because I mean, these things are expensive to fix. I mean, I saw I saw that you raised some money, but you actually told them to stop donating.

• 47:35Speaker 01

  Yeah, well, I was, um, I just felt so supported by the community and I was absolutely shocked when I just saw that people had really cared enough about me and my family. Um, we had the GoFundMe and everyone was just so supportive. Um, with this sort of thing, you have time off work, you have upcoming expenses for rehabilitation.

• 47:55Speaker 00

  I can imagine.

• 47:56Speaker 01

  Um, but it got to the point where I thought, you know what, like, I think this is sufficient enough. And I was mindful that there are other people out there that are going through really difficult times too. So, um, yeah, with that, I was very thankful. And then moving forward, like I said, I want to give back. So I'm currently working with the St Vincent's Curran Foundation.

• 48:18Speaker 00

  Oh, wow, that's great.

• 48:19Speaker 01

  And I'm volunteering to raise money for the ICU to buy equipment because with St Vincent's, it's half private, half public. So a lot of it is actually privately funded.

• 48:28Speaker 00

  Yep.

• 48:28Speaker 01

  Um, so I'm working with them to help raise funds because the ICU team did an incredible job with me.

• 48:33Speaker 00

  This is the intensive care unit?

• 48:34Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 48:35Speaker 00

  In the public hospital?

• 48:36Speaker 01

  Yeah, at St Vincent's, um.

• 48:39Speaker 00

  What people don't realise, but I didn't realise anyway, is that there is a specialist in every discipline at St Vincent's. It doesn't matter whether it's, um, in your case, trauma or mental health or, um, you need a kidney person or you need a heart person. There's one on call or one at the hospital at twenty four hours a day.

• 48:57Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 48:59Speaker 00

  Everything is covered in the public hospital I'm talking about. It's quite amazing.

• 49:03Speaker 01

  Oh, they're they're amazing. And the people that were on call when I arrived were absolute experts in the field. And I was still very close to death when I arrived, but because of their expertise, they kept me alive.

• 49:19Speaker 00

  Do you remember any of these things?

• 49:22Speaker 01

  I remember the hospital lights, um, but.

• 49:26Speaker 00

  Like in this, in the operating area?

• 49:27Speaker 01

  Um, no, that that becomes hazy then. They'd pumped me with a lot of ketamine by that time, so I don't.

• 49:33Speaker 00

  For the pain?

• 49:34Speaker 01

  For the pain, um, and that's erased that memory. Um, but I've been told that when I arrived, I was asking for my mum, um, which is actually what a lot of people do when they're near to death. They actually ask for their mum, which, yeah, is really interesting, um.

• 49:53Speaker 01

  But I I remember a bit of the lights, but that's about it.

• 49:57Speaker 00

  Yeah, the the care after, once you came to, the care in the the hospital would have been amazing.

• 50:04Speaker 01

  Oh, they are so beautiful.

• 50:06Speaker 00

  They're they're like angels.

• 50:07Speaker 01

  Honestly, and even though I don't miss the hospital at all, I actually miss the staff.

• 50:12Speaker 00

  Yeah, yeah.

• 50:13Speaker 01

  Um, I still keep in contact with quite a few of them, um, the nurses, the surgeons. Um, my orthopedic surgeon gave me a call last week, um, and he's coming to an event that I'm going to just to check in with me. Um, I, when I was in ICU, I don't think they do this for many people, but they actually kept a diary for me, the nurses.

• 50:33Speaker 00

  Oh, wow.

• 50:34Speaker 01

  And what they wrote was, um, a lot of people wake up from a coma and they're confused about the time they've lost or worried about the time they've lost. So they'd kept a diary every day about what was happening and what they were doing to care for me. And just, they didn't have to do that, but they just did that because they cared. Um, and I had a lot of experiences with that, um, the nurses. I was really traumatised and they had the right words to stay at that time and they went above and beyond with their job. Um, yeah, incredible staff at St Vincent's and I'm sure a lot of the hospitals.

• 51:12Speaker 00

  When I was there last week, it's funny, I, um, there was one nurse looking after my friend, uh, she was a young woman and she's walking around humming like tunes, like all the time, the whole time. Like literally the whole time, she's trying to help him out and, um, we're in the emergency ward and, uh, and I said to her, I said, uh, why are you humming? She said, I don't know. She said, I'd just like to hum. And she was so pleasant. It's bloody amazing, like, and I said to my friend, like, as far as I'm concerned, first responders in this country, the federal government, the prime minister should say something like, whatever the tax rate is for everybody else, you've got to pay half.

• 51:50Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 51:51Speaker 00

  Because they don't get paid enough money in the first place, because they do it because they're just meant to do it. They're so good at it.

• 51:57Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 51:58Speaker 00

  They should, we should be saying to them as Australians, we're happy to pay a bit more tax, so you don't have to pay as much tax.

• 52:04Speaker 01

  Absolutely. I've actually thought about that before too. Cancel stamp duty for them.

• 52:08Speaker 00

  Yeah, you you should get some benefit.

• 52:11Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 52:11Speaker 00

  As a first responder, the the dude on the beach, um, you know, the lifeguards, um, uh, the people at the hospital, the ambulance guys who come to get you, the helicopter person who's looking after you, the police. Like, it's, they're amazing people and we just, we need to, um, have have have more gratitude, actual gratitude, like money gratitude for them. Not just say, oh, thank you.

• 52:35Speaker 01

  I know.

• 52:35Speaker 00

  We should, we as a community should give them more gratitude.

• 52:38Speaker 01

  I know. Well, you're not actually allowed to give gifts when you're in the hospital. I wanted to give them all something, but you're not allowed, you're only allowed to give them food. I'm like, oh, they deserve a lot more than this. You're absolutely correct. Cut their taxes in half.

• 52:52Speaker 00

  Totally. I mean, as we are, you know, when I look at all the events and all the people that got in involved in trying to help you out and you're sitting here, living proof of this, the system in Australia, the system in Australia is pretty good.

• 53:04Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 53:04Speaker 00

  I'd I'd say if you're in another country, maybe it maybe not as, may not have turned out quite as well.

• 53:09Speaker 01

  No.

• 53:10Speaker 00

  I mean, we complain a lot of stuff about Australia, I've been doing a bit of it lately, um, about, um, various things in the economy, but what someone like you is, uh, is very sobering because we do actually live in the best country in the world.

• 53:26Speaker 01

  Absolutely.

• 53:26Speaker 00

  We have all these scary things that happen like crocodiles and sharks and snakes and what have you. But still, we we do live in the best country in the world. We live in the, we have the best system around us.

• 53:36Speaker 01

  Hmm.

• 53:37Speaker 00

  And, uh, we shouldn't lose sight of that and you're living proof of it.

• 53:41Speaker 01

  Oh, absolutely.

• 53:42Speaker 00

  Living proof. And then I underline that word, living proof.

• 53:46Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 53:46Speaker 00

  Sitting here right in front of me.

• 53:48Speaker 01

  Hmm. And even, yeah, that and also the Aussie spirit of Charlie just swam into a shark to pick me up. Um, people ran up to pull me from the water, um, holding up towels, not filming. Well, there were some people filming, but like most people were standing there just wanting me to get better. And getting to the hospital and, um, the Medicare system, if I was in America, I would be, I don't know, millions of dollars.

• 54:19Speaker 00

  Oh, totally.

• 54:20Speaker 01

  Um, I'm very fortunate to have been in Australia and had the outcome that I have. And I don't think it would have happened in some other places.

• 54:30Speaker 00

  Well, we are actually very fortunate for you to be able to come and share your story. I'm serious, I mean that. Um, I'm very fortunate about how of the opportunity to talk about it. And thank you for, um, being so honest and open about it because that's a pretty important thing. For people to get the whole, the whole story, not just what they read in the newspaper or maybe a clip on radio. But for someone like you to get up here four months after the event to talk about it so openly, honestly. But also with, it looks like you're, for me, I get this feeling of beaming and gratitude.

• 55:02Speaker 01

  Absolutely.

• 55:03Speaker 00

  And that's a great story in itself and, you know, really important for people to understand. If Leah can show the gratitude that she's showing in relation to what happened to her as opposed to, you know, wallowing in it too much, then all of us can learn from that. All of us, we we can actually pick something up from that and take it away and make our lives a bit better because at the end of the day, it's up to us.

• 55:26Speaker 01

  Hmm.

• 55:27Speaker 00

  Would you agree? It's up to you. It's up to what Leah decides to do as to how she feels. Nobody else can do that for you.

• 55:34Speaker 01

  Yeah, thank you for that. Yeah, absolutely. Um, it's an active decision. You can choose to focus on what's going well or what's not not going well. And every day I'm choosing what's going well and it's working so far.

• 55:46Speaker 00

  Leah Stewart, thanks very much. That was amazing.

• 55:49Speaker 01

  I really appreciate it.