Bethany Hamilton

                                            Bethany Meilani Hamilton was born in Kauai Hawaii February 8, 1990. She is the only daughter of Tom and Cheri Hamilton, and she has two brothers, Noah and Tim Hamilton. Her best friend is Alana Blanchard who is also her surf buddy since they were both in third grade.

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                                                  Bethany started surfing at a young age.  At the age of eight she entered her first surf competition at the Rell Sun Menehune event on Oahu, were she won the short and long board divisions. In the 3rd grade she and Alana became friends.  At the age of thirteen she was attacked by a fourteen foot Tiger shark at Kauai's North Shore. A month after the attack Bethany started surfing again.  At first she couldn't get up on her board, but on her third try she got up on that board like she used to before her attack. From the time she was born to now, the one major struggle was the shark attack on October 31, 2003.  She was named bravest girl in America, and also she became a pro surfer only having one arm. In 2004, she won the 2004 Teen Choice award for 'Most Courageous Teen', and the 2004 ESPY award for 'Best Comeback Athlete'. In 2005 she won the 'National Scholastic Surfing Association National' championship.

                                  Hamilton showed heroism when she decided to donate money to help her blind psychologist recover his vision.  She also went to visit people in the army who, after the war, had disabilities. Bethany is a great leader and an amazing person; during her attack she stayed calm! She lost more than 60% of her blood! But she didn't yell or scream once!

                                  Bethany is brave, she is a survivor! She is brave because after her attack she went back into the water to do what she loves most, surfing, and with only one arm she became a professional surfer! She is a survivor because she survived a shark attack, lost over 60% of her blood, and lost her arm, but today she doesn't regret it or blame anyone or the shark for what happened to her! The most amazing part of it all is that she is still alive today!

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                                  Bethany has been almost everywhere in the U.S telling people of all ages her touching story and sharing her faith. Right now Bethany has won more than 100 trophies in all of her surfing competitions! When she is not surfing she goes hiking, biking, she also plays tennis, soccer and rollerblading. How exciting! Bethany is a living miracle, she can teach us that we who have two arms can do a lot more than someone with one arm, so we with two arms have no good reason to say we can't do something, especially when we see someone with one arm do the things a regular person can do!