Friday, October 24, 2008

Bethany Hamilton Story

This is an amazing story about an 18 year old surfer from Hawaii who lost her left arm in a shark attack when she was 13 but still returned to surfing. It seems virtually impossible to me that someone would be able to stand up on a surf board with one arm. Let alone to paddle hard enough to catch a wave. Its hard enough with two arms! This is an unbelievable story, check it out:

"On October 31, 2003, Hamilton went for a morning surf along Tunnels Beach, Kauai with friends Alana, Byron and Holt Blanchard. Around 7:30 a.m., she was lying sideways on her surfboard with her left arm dangling in the water, when a 14 ft tiger shark attacked her, ripping her left arm off just below the shoulder. If the shark had bitten 2 inches further in, the attack would have been fatal. Bethany had lost 60% of her blood that morning. Her friends helped paddle her back to shore, and fashioned a tourniquet out of a surfboard leash around what was left of her arm before rushing her to Wilcox Memorial Hospital. Her dad was supposed to have a knee surgery that morning but she took his place in the operating room.
Despite the trauma of the incident, Hamilton was determined to return to surfing. Three weeks after the incident, she returned to her board and went surfing again. Initially, she adopted a custom-made board that was longer and slightly thicker which made it easier to paddle. She has observed that she has to kick a lot more to make up for the loss of her left arm. After teaching herself to surf with one arm, she has again begun surfing competitively. She is now back to using competitive performance short-boards again.

In July 2004 Hamilton won the ESPY Award for Best Comeback Athlete of the Year. She was presented with a special courage award at the 2004 Teen Choice Awards.

In 2005, with one arm, Bethany took 1st place in the NSSA National Championships, a goal she had been trying to achieve since before the shark attack. In 2008, she began competing full-time on the ASP World Qualifying Series. In her first competition against many of the world's best women surfers, she came in 3rd.

Hamilton is also a devout Christian who uses her shark attack experience in her personal ministry."



Here is a clip from the documentary about her:

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