A trio of radio DJs have questioned how shark attack victim Leah Stewart had ‘time to think’ during the horror mauling that saw her lose her left arm.

Ms Stewart, 35, sat down with 60 Minutes on Sunday to recall how the attack and her miraculous escape unfolded at Sydney’s Coogee Beach on June 13.

During the televised interview, Ms Stewart described thinking about her daughter, deciding which arm to punch the shark with, and seeing the predator’s ‘black little beady eyes’.

Melbourne radio hosts Kate Langbroek,  Brendan Fevola and Nick Cody, from 101.9 The Fox, on Tuesday accused Ms Stewart of putting ‘a lot of mayo on’ – or embellishing – the story.

‘I’ve never been in this position and I wouldn’t understand what would go on, but if a shark was attacking you, you wouldn’t have much time to think,’ Fevola said.

Langbroek cut in: ‘No, most people say you don’t even know what’s happening.’

The trio then replayed part of Ms Stewart’s interview in which she recalled coming face-to-face with the shark and, in the moment before it bit her, deciding to hit it with her left arm because it was the arm she was more ‘willing to lose’.

‘I was on the couch with my wife going, ”She’s lying! Too much time to think!” You’re not thinking all that are you?’ Fevola said.

Leah Stewart (above) survived a horror shark attack at Coogee Beach on June 13 and on Sunday sat down to recall the experience

Melbourne radio hosts Brendan Fevola and Nick Cody (above) accused Ms Stewart of embellishing her story by putting ‘too much mayo’ on details of the attack

Co-host Langbroek then tried to defend Ms Stewart.

‘Mercifully, we don’t know,’ she cautioned Fevola.

‘But it does seem unusual. The only other person I know who’s punched a shark is (professional surfer) Mick Fanning.

‘He said at the time he didn’t even have a chance to think about what he was doing, it was like a reflex.’

But Fevola was adamant Ms Stewart was embellishing the story.

‘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,’ he said.

‘That’s a lot of mayo.’

Ms Stewart, a teacher and mother to one-year-old daughter August, was a regular swimmer at Coogee Beach and said in the interview that ‘time slowed down’ when she saw the shark approach her.

Ms Stewart (pictured with her one-year-old daughter, August) remembers large parts of the attack, including the moment she punched the great white shark in the face

Neuroscientist David Eagleman famously did experiments in 2007 in which he had subjects fall from a tower, wearing safety gear, and they estimated the fall lasted on average 36 per cent longer than it did.

His work became the basis of what was later coined as the Matrix Effect, experienced during dangerous situations, with characteristics including the perception of time slowing, hyper-focus, and heightened sensory input.

MRI scans have shown the brain’s cingulate cortex, responsible for processing events that directly affect someone, and also the amygdala, a secondary area for storing memories, both ‘light up’ in these situations. 

Ms Stewart had been between the flags and close to shore when she was attacked by the four-metre-long great white.

It was the first shark attack at the beach in over a century. 

World champion paddleboarder Charlie Verco was training near Ms Stewart when he spotted her struggling in the water.

He got her to shore where several other off-duty medical personnel happened to be on the beach.

Their quick response helped Ms Stewart cling to life long enough to get to hospital, where she was put in a coma for 10 days.

Ms Stewart (above) with her young daughter thanked the public for the outpouring of support

Thankfully, the teacher and mother suffered no cognitive damage from the extreme blood loss but had extensive damage to her left leg and right arm.

Her left arm had to be amputated and Ms Stewart said she still struggles to come to terms with her new disability. 

‘There’s good days and bad days. For me, I’m still coming to terms that (my arm’s) not there,’ she said.

‘I get really frustrated. August will put up her hands and she’ll want me to pick her up. I’m just desperate too, I just can’t.’

But she’s doing her best to focus on the ‘small wins’. 

‘It’s about the little things, like now I can brush my teeth,’ Ms Stewart said.

‘I’m really proud of that. It’s so nice to brush your own teeth, not someone else doing it for you.’