Bethany Hamilton

Bethany Hamilton, born on Febuary 8, 1990 in North Shore, Kauai, is my hero because of how she reacted to her accident with a shark. Bethany is a surfer from Hawaii. Her parents had moved to Hawiaii for the surfing. At the age of 4, Bethany was in the push division of a Quicksilver surfing contest and won. Bethany is an amateur surfing champion who ranked number 8 in the world. In the National Scholastic Surfing Association contest on the Big Island she came in second. "I might not be here if I hadn't asked for God's help. I look at everything that's happened as part of God's plan for my life."

The way Bethany reacted to the shark accident is the reason why Bethany Hamilton is my hero. It was on October 31, 2003 around 7:30 A.M. when a 14-foot tiger shark came up to Bethany below the water. The shark bit off her left arm just below the shoulder and also bit a 17-inch chunk out of her board. Bethany lost 70% of her blood that morning. Even though all of this happened, she said she was going to return to surfing. Only 10 weeks after the incident she went surfing again, but she was using a custom-made board. "When I got up on my first wave, I rode it all the way into the shore, and after that, I just had like, tears of happiness, I was so stoked to be back out there." Bethany says that the loss of her arm was a blessing in disguise. She is very happy that she now has the opportunity to be a motivation to others. My favorite saying from Bethany is, "People can do whatever they want if they just set their heart to it, and just never give up, and just go out there and do it."

Bethany Hamilton is my hero because of the events that happened to her during her life. The shark attack was a major event. She always believed in herself no matter what anyone said. "I know I have something important to say. Something that people need to hear, but sometimes they get so caught up in the story part, that they miss the meaning," says Bethany. Bethany Hamilton inspires me to keep doing what I'm doing because of how she acted towards what happened to her and she never gave up or made a negative comment about anything. She also wrote a book about what happened called Soul Surfer.