When Coogee Beach shark attack victim Leah Stewart finally opened her eyes after nearly two weeks in a medically induced coma, one of her very first instincts was to reach out to the stranger who saved her life.
Professional ironman and volunteer lifeguard Charlie Verco took immediate, fearless action on June 13 when a massive Great White shark dragged Stewart underwater at the popular Sydney spot.
Despite the horrific scene unfolding in front of him, the 25-year-old paddled directly into the bloodied surf to rescue the mother-of-one—a split-second decision that ultimately ensured she made it back to shore alive.
Now, speaking exclusively about the life-changing morning and their emotional road forward, Verco revealed the overwhelming moment he received a personal message from Stewart directly from her hospital bed.
“I saw through the media she’d woken up and been able to speak to her family for a quick second.
Then I got a text the day after that, which I thought was amazing. It said thank you and she’d like to meet me one day, which was really cool.”
A Heartwarming Reunion Built On Courage
Since that initial message, the pair have officially reunited in person to talk through the traumatic event that linked their lives forever.
Reflecting on their meeting, Verco expressed deep admiration for Stewart’s mindset, praising the remarkable positivity she maintains despite suffering life-altering physical trauma.
He shared that hearing her side of the story underscored her incredible resilience and her sheer determination to return home to her 18-month-old daughter, August.
“She’s an amazing person. I got to hear a little bit about her story … her philosophy around it is incredible.
She handles it so well and she’s really comfortable talking about it.
She wants to talk about how she got to go home and see her daughter and how that was a pretty incredible experience.”
For Stewart, the thought of her young child growing up motherless was the sole motivation that kept her fighting while trapped in the jaws of the ocean predator.
Recounting the terrifying underwater struggle during a television interview with 60 Minutes, Stewart described the horrific face of the 3.5-meter beast as it latched onto her body.
“[The shark’s] face was horrific – I will never forget.
It was a monster.
It was holding onto my leg.
All I was thinking of was August and I thought, ‘She’s not going to have a mum.’
I couldn’t handle that … I just thought, ‘I’ve got to fight it and do everything I can to be here.’”
Diving Into Bloodied Waters
The brutality of the attack left Stewart with catastrophic injuries across her back, arms, and legs, eventually forcing surgeons to amputate her left arm below the elbow before placing her in a coma for nearly 14 days.
Recalling the exact moment the incident occurred, Verco admitted he was thrust into rescue mode the second he realized a swimmer was being mauled. However, as the water turned crimson, finding her under the surface posed an immediate, terrifying challenge.
“I couldn’t see her anymore because of the amount of blood in the water.
Luckily enough, it did let her go … once she popped up I was like, now’s the chance I’ve got to go and grab her.”
Even as his natural self-preservation instincts urged him to turn his board toward safety, the North Bondi local knew he was Stewart’s only lifeline in the middle of the ocean.
“As I got closer I could see she was obviously very freaked out and in shock.
She was able to say ‘help’, and she was kind of able to respond to my instructions.”
A Desperate Fight Back To Shore
While Stewart managed to grab onto Verco’s paddleboard, the ordeal was far from over as her body began to give out from severe blood loss.
As they made their way toward the beach, Stewart lost consciousness entirely, forcing Verco to navigate his board through the ocean waves with one hand while using his other arm to keep her head above water.
He confessed that the 50-meter paddle to the sand felt like an eternity.
When they finally hit the beach, Verco feared the worst as he surveyed the full extent of her injuries.
“When I put her on the ground and I could fully see her injuries …
I wasn’t too optimistic.
But I came back a couple minutes later and saw the people doing first aid had done an incredible job and she was conscious and that was where I had a little bit of hope.
She’s been on the mend far faster than I thought.”
Life After The Heroic Rescue
In the months following the Coogee Beach attack, life has been a whirlwind for the modest ironman.
Verco has been flooded with national media attention, awarded a prestigious Surf Life Saving Award for bravery, and even went on to set a paddling world record in Hawaii.
Despite the emotional weight of the event, he remains committed to his passion for the ocean, refusing to let the trauma keep him on land.
“I’m in the water every day – it’s such an important part of my life and provided me so much joy that I didn’t want to let the incident with the shark get in the way of that.”
However, he admitted the experience has made him far more cautious regarding the timing and locations of his training sessions in open water.
As for his newly acquired hero status across Australia, Verco remains completely grounded, laughingly revealing that his close friends and siblings ensure his head stays small.
“I don’t feel like I did anything heroic.
I did what so many other people would have done in that situation.
They bag me out as being a fake celebrity.”