Coogee shark attack survivor Leah Stewart reveals skin graft has failed in heartbreaking recovery update

A Sydney mother’s recovery from the shark attack that cost her left arm has suffered a cruel setback, with her latest skin graft failing more than three months after she nearly died in the surf.

In an emotional Instagram update, Leah Stewart told followers the news was “not the update I was hoping for” after doctors confirmed the graft had not worked.

“Unfortunately this is not the post I was wanting to do but I had my graft checked yesterday and it was confirmed that it failed,” Ms Stewart said.

Shark attack survivor Leah Stewart has provided a sad health update after undergoing a second skin graft on her injured leg more than three months after the Coogee incident.

The 34-year-old, who lost her left arm below the elbow in the June 13 attack, admitted she was struggling with the latest blow.

“I am feeling pretty devastated, had quite a few tears, and now we’re not really sure where to go from here,” she said.

Ms Stewart explained it has now been three and a half months since the attack and her leg wound remains open. She revealed she is taking a break from the vacuum dressing used to help secure the graft, which at least gives her a little more freedom to move around.

In the video, she also showed the injury to her leg for the first time, pointing to where skin was taken from her right thigh in an effort to repair the damage to her left leg.

“It’s still pretty raw but thankfully it’s healing. And they put it on my left leg but unfortunately it didn’t work,” she said.

It is the second time a skin graft has not gone to plan during Ms Stewart’s long recovery from the attack at Coogee Beach, where she was swimming between the flags and close to shore when a 4m great white struck.

Last month, she recounted the terrifying ordeal in a 60 Minutes interview, describing the moment she found herself staring directly at the shark after hearing a woman scream behind her.

“I turned and there was a huge, huge fin behind her, it was massive,” she told the program.

After trying to swim towards shore, Ms Stewart realised the shark was right in front of her.

“I’ll never forget its face. It was huge and its teeth and its mouth was massive and its eyes, it’s just black little beady eyes, we were just looking face-to-face.”