Bethany Hamilton

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Bethany Hamilton is a shark attack survivor that has been surfing her whole life. She had a movie made about her story in 2011. There is also a book about her and many magazine articles. She comes from a family that lives on the water. They surf all the time. Her parents were big time surfers just like Bethany. Hamilton started surfing young and even after a life changing event she kept doing what she loved.

Bethany started surfing at a very young age. She was in her first competition at the age of eight(Ott). At the age of nine she got her first sponsorship. In may of 2003, she won both her age group and the open division of Hawaii's local Motion/Ezekiel surf into summer event (Ott). After that she loved surfing even more. She trained for competitions all the time. Hamilton was homeschooled so she also got more time to surf whenever she was done with her work(Ott). Always being the best at tournaments. From a young age she always wanted to be a pro surfer when she grew up. She had very supportive parents and her brothers were supportive too. Hamilton was a normal kid doing what she loved until one day her life would change.

It was a normal day when 13 year old Bethany Hamilton woke up to start her day off with surfing, she didn't know that today would change her life forever. No one ever expects this to happen to them. Hamilton and her friend were surfing when all of a sudden a huge tiger shark came out of nowhere and bit off her left arm all the way to her shoulder socket. Her friend had to help bring her to shore and call the ambulance. She was rushed to the hospital. Her parents weren't even the first ones to know because they were not there when it happened. Hamilton lost a lot of blood and so they didn't know if she was going to make it. She got through a long and hard recovery. She got a lot of fan mail. Letters from people wanting her to keep doing what she is doing. After the attack Bethany was afraid of sharks at first, but she didn't let that stop her from doing what she loved.

After Hamilton's comeback she was an inspiration to many. At first she would get frustrated with how hard things were for her. She never gave up she just kept working to get better. Months later she was ready to start in competitions again. She may not have been at the top of the rankings but she made her way up in time. Hamilton said that after beating Tyler the number one surfer in the world, she could beat anyone. In 2016 Hamilton got third place at the Women's World surfing tournament in Fiji(Mather). That was a huge accomplishment for her. So many people look up to her.

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Bethany Hamilton had a huge obstacle in her life that she overcame because she loved the sport of surfing so much. She was determined to get back in the water and show people what she could do. She now puts on charities and does many things to help others. She loves what she does. Now she has a family of her own. Hamilton got married and has a son. She never let that attack determine how she was going to live her life. It was hard to push herself at times but she never let the fear of sharks keep her from riding the waves.