Source : Perth Now news
Hundreds of people have braved a morning swim at a beach in Sydney’s east in a remarkable show of community strength, after a horrific shark attack left a young mum fighting for life.
The Coogee Community Swim drew huge crowds to Coogee Beach on Sunday morning in the name of raising funds for the family of Leah Stewart, a local woman who was bitten by a great white shark on June 13.
Thousands of swimmers have attended a community fundraising swim for a woman who is fighting for life after a horrific great white shark attack at Coogee Beach earlier in the week.
The primary school teacher and devoted mum suffered catastrophic injuries and remains in a critical condition at St Vincent’s Hospital, having undergone “extensive surgery”.
Footage taken by Randwick City Council on Sunday morning shows a vast crowd of swimmers, surfers and paddleboarders taking to the icy-cold waters in a show of strength and support for the community, which has been left deeply shaken by the incident.
A statement from Ms Stewart’s family was read out before the swim kicked off, describing the event as “amazing”.
“This is the community that Leah loved, and it’s amazing to see you all have her back,” the statement said.
“As you swim out, wave hi to the blue gropers. They are her favourite underwater sighting.”
Randwick Mayor Dylan Parker said the event was emblematic of “community at its best”.
“Being out there with the thousands of swimmers, you can just feel the warmth in what was pretty fresh water,” he said.
Coogee Surf Life Saving Club Ben Heenan said the community had shown an “absolute force of strength”.
Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Premier Chris Minns said the Coogee community was “suffering” but he was pleased to see the show of solidarity.
“I know that there’s a big swim out today – I think the rest of Sydney is thinking about them, and I can only imagine what the family is going through,” Mr Minns said.
“They’re resilient people, they believe in the water, they believe in that beach, and I think they’re showing a lot of resilience today.”
