Sydney shark attack survivor awake, alert and ‘remembers the whole event in detail’, brother says

A woman who was attacked by a shark at Sydney’s Coogee’s beach is no longer in a critical condition and “remembers the whole event in detail”, her brother has said. Leah Stewart’s brother, Joshua, provided the update on a fundraising site on Thursday, writing that it was “amazing to hear from her so much sooner than anyone expected” and that she had been “overjoyed” to see her daughter for the first time since the incident almost two weeks ago . The 34-year-old teacher will remain in hospital as she continues to recover from surgeries – including an arm amputation. “Her remaining arm has severe tendon and nerve damage which will require further repair and intensive rehabilitation,” he wrote, adding she did not yet have use of her hand. “Leah still has a long way to go, with an extensive recovery and rehabilitation process that will have her in and out of surgery through the coming weeks. Leah has shown she is so strong, fighting to come back to her daughter August.” Sydney beaches have been closed for three days in a row due to great white shark sightings, with one expert warning the predators were coming close to shore to feed on “big balls of salmon off the beaches right now”. Bondi beach was briefly shut on Sunday due to a sighting and then again on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday after local authorities were alerted to great whites. …