Three Australian radio hosts are facing backlash after questioning the account of a schoolteacher who survived a great white shark attack, with one accusing her of putting “a lot of mayo” on her story.
Leah Stewart, 35, lost her left arm and suffered catastrophic blood loss after being attacked while
swimming at Sydney’s Coogee Beach.
As the Herald reported earlier this week, Stewart survived after paddleboarders, lifesavers, police officers, a trauma doctor and hospital staff formed an extraordinary chain of rescuers.
Fox FM breakfast presenters Kate Langbroek, Brendan Fevola and Nick Cody questioned Stewart’s recollection after her interview with 60 Minutes Australia aired on Sunday.
Stewart said that when she came face-to-face with the shark, she considered which limb she could afford to lose.
“Well, which limb am I willing to lose?” she recalled thinking.
“I’m right-handed, so I decided, ‘Let’s do a left hook’.”
Stewart said she repeatedly punched the shark as it dragged her underwater.
“I twisted myself around, and I just started punching it over and over and over again, just punch, punch, punch,” she told 60 Minutes Australia.
“It was like fighting a dinosaur. It was so big. It was like punching a brick wall.”
But Fevola challenged her recollection during Monday’s breakfast programme, the Daily Mail reported.
“I was on the couch with my wife Alex going, ‘She’s lying! Too much time to think!’ You’re not thinking all that, are you?” he asked.
“Come on, oh right or left? Like bro, you are amazing, you punched a shark in the face and survived, but you’re not thinking all that. That’s a lot of mayo.”
Fevola acknowledged he had never been attacked by a shark and if he was in that position he would probably “have had a heart attack and would have been eaten”.
The comments prompted anger from listeners, with some accusing the presenters of lacking compassion and having no basis for judging how someone would think during a near-death experience.
