'Not taking me away from my daughter': Leah Stewart recalls fighting off shark

In short: Leah Stewart said punching a great white shark as it dragged her under the water was like "fighting a dinosaur". The 35-year-old has given her first interview since being mauled by a shark at Coogee Beach on June 13. Ms Stewart had her left lower arm amputated and suffered extensive injuries. Shark attack survivor Leah Stewart has described the moment "a left hook" punch and her sheer will to watch her daughter grow up saved her life. On June 13, the 35-year-old was finishing up her swim at Coogee Beach in Sydney's east when she was mauled by four-metre-long great white shark. The attack left her on life support and she required multiple operations, including the amputation of her left arm. In an interview with Nine's 60 Minutes program on Sunday, Ms Stewart said when she came face-to-face with the shark she asked herself: "Well, which limb am I willing to lose." "I'm right-handed, so I decided, 'Let's do a left hook'," she said. She said survival mode kicked in when the shark pulled her underwater and was only "30 centimetres" from her face. "In my head, I was like, 'You ugly f***er, you are not taking me away from my daughter',"she said. "And I twisted myself around and I just started punching it over and over and over again. Just punch, punch, punch. "It was like fighting a dinosaur. It was so big. It was like punching a brick wall. "I think I must have got a really good one in. And so it let me go." Off-duty volunteer lifeguard Charlie Verco was training for a paddleboarding competition when he saw Ms Stewart thrashing in the water. Despite her severe injuries, the 25-year-old was able to get Ms Stewart to cling onto a drink bottle holder on the front of his board. Mr Vecro previously spoke with the ABC about the moment he saw the shark, saying it "was so big and powerful". "The water got very bloody and she got taken under and after a few seconds, popped up again, and the shark had let her go," he said. 'Second chance at life' The 35-year-old teacher from Coogee has spent months recovering from the attack, being bitten across her arms and legs and suffering extreme blood loss. When pulled to shore she regained consciousness, with lifeguards and an off-duty doctor performing CPR as they waited for an ambulance. Officers from the riot squad, who had increased patrols in the area after the Bondi terror attack, had tourniquets they applied to help stop the blood loss. Ms Stewart was placed in a medically induced coma for over a week at St Vincent's Hospital. More than $550,000 was donated on a fundraising site to support Ms Stewart and her family. In an update posted on the site last week Ms Stewart wrote: "I feel like I've been given a second chance at life, and I'm not going to waste it." Preparation for approaching swimming season The release of the interview comes as new shark mitigation measures are rolled out along the New South Wales coast in time for the start of spring. For the first time, two shark detection buoys have been installed in Sydney Harbour, near Balmoral on the lower north shore and Lady Bay in the harbour's east. From tomorrow, there will be expanded shark drone surveillance at more than 90 beaches, with the head of the state government's shark management program Marcel Green saying the state will have the most comprehensive drone coverage in the world. "Every weekend, at least one drone in every LGA is now going to have weekend coverage, and one drone in every LGA will be covered 365 days of the year from dawn til dusk," he said. Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty said shark nets will be also be re-installed at 51 beaches tomorrow. "We are of course sharing the ocean, none of this is ever going to be perfect, but we're doing everything we can to embrace new technology to provide people with real time information," she said.