(Adnkronos) – A 34-year-old woman has woken from a pharmacological coma more than a week after she was attacked by a shark while swimming near the shore of a well-known Sydney beach. The family of Leah Stewart, who was attacked by a shark at Coogee Beach sustaining multiple bites to her arms and legs and severe bleeding, announced this. The woman had been hospitalized in critical condition and underwent several surgeries, including the amputation of an arm.
“I love you,” were the first words the woman addressed to her mother and partner, in addition to asking if her daughter was okay. “It happened much faster than anyone expected, and for us it’s a miracle, it’s everything many of us have hoped and prayed for over the past week,” wrote the woman’s brother, Joshua Stewart, in an online message. The woman is still in intensive care and underwent five days of surgery last week, with more procedures scheduled in the coming weeks. “Leah still has a long way to go and is still in intensive care, but this is an extremely positive first step that gives us hope for her full recovery,” he added.
This year in Australia, several shark attacks have occurred, including four incidents in two days in January. Among the victims was a 12-year-old boy bitten while swimming in Sydney Harbour, who died in hospital due to his injuries. The following day, an eleven-year-old’s surfboard was bitten at Dee Why beach, just hours before a man was attacked in nearby Manly and transported to hospital in critical condition. Then, on January 20, a fourth surfer sustained a chest injury after being bitten by a shark about 300 kilometers offshore.
Last month, two fatal shark attacks occurred: a man was killed by a shark in Queensland while spearfishing, while in Western Australia, Steven Mattaboni, 38 years old and a father of two, died after being bitten by a four-meter shark.
