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Bethany Hamilton

by Kendall from Cincinnati

At age 13 when a shark bit off Bethany Hamilton left arm and she resumed surfing with one arm shortly after the attack and won a national title in 2005. Hamilton shared her experiences in documentary films and appeared on several popular television shows. In morning on October 31, 2003, Hamilton went out to surf with her best friend and her best friend's father and brother. She all the sudden felt intense pulling on her left arm and was pulled back and forth for a couple seconds. Her feeling no pain, she noticed the water around her had turned red, and her shocked friends realized that her left arm had been gone and bitten off nearly to her shoulder. "She lost approximately 60 percent of her blood following the attack and she went into several surgeries, she was stabilized and released after a few days." (biography.com)

Bethany Hamilton began competitive surfing at age 8. At age 13 when a shark bit off her left arm and she resumed surfing with one arm shortly after the attack and won a national title in 2005. Bethany Hamilton has her own exhibit in the CMA's. They caught the shark because it was a threat to all people in the area. It was a 13 foot, 6 inch tiger shark. She was really nervous about a shark attacking her again but she believed that God was helping her through it all and she believed that God was the one that made Bethany not die from the attack.

Bethany Hamilton is a hero because she inspires people to keep doing what you love even if something bad happens and it makes it difficult to do. Bethany helps other people and says you have to love who you are even if you have a disability. She kept surfing even though she only has her right arm. It shows that you have to keep trying even if it's hard to do. She says you have to be brave and she inspires people by doing what she loves with only one arm. Even if you're scared and had a fear of that bad thing happening again, like she was, she never gave up.

The definition of a hero was shown in my hero choice, Bethany Hamilton, because she inspires people to keep doing what you love even if you have a fear of something bad happening. She says she doesn't need easy, she just needs possible and she is brave by still surfing even though a shark bit off her arm. She will always have a fear of that but she will always know she is brave and inspiring to still do competitive surfing.

Page created on 12/19/2015 12:00:00 AM

Last edited 12/19/2015 12:00:00 AM

The beliefs, viewpoints and opinions expressed in this hero submission on the website are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the beliefs, viewpoints and opinions of The MY HERO Project and its staff.