Bethany Hamilton

Bethany Hamilton-I made it myselfMy hero’s name is Bethany Hamilton. She was born on February 8th 1990 on the island of Kauai, Hawaii. Her parents Tom and Cherri put her on a surf board at a very young age. They also started getting her very involved in Christianity. She was surfing without her parents’ help at the age of 7. In the summer of 2003, Bethany placed 2nd in the open women’s division of the National Scholastic Surfing Association (NSSA). Her future looked promising. Her lifelong dream of being a professional surfer was interrupted on October 31st 2003. While surfing with her best friend Alana and Alana’s dad, Holt, and her brother, Bryan, she was attacked by a 14 foot tiger shark! She had a very severely hurt left arm. Holt, Bryan and Alana acted quickly and put pressure on her shoulder and paddled her back to the shore where she eventually passed out while waiting for the ambulance to come. After losing 60% of her blood and going through several surgeries Bethany was on her way to recovery with an extremely positive attitude. Her determination and positive attitude have allowed her to achieve goals that most people would only imagine to do.

Foreign, national and local media traveled all the way to this little island to report on this teen’s shark attack. To their surprise, Bethany was very positive about this situation. With her family’s protection and law enforcements, Bethany only gave one personal interview. Her family and friends took care of the rest. Unaware if she would be able to ever surf again, she tried surfing with only one arm. She tried only one month after the attack. She went from a long board to a mini tanker then to a short board in no time. In the month of January 2004, she returned to a surf competition. The referees let her paddle out 5 minute ahead from the rest of her heat, but she refused to take a special offer. She placed 5th in the Open Women’s Division for that contest. Everyone was so surprised seeing her surf so soon after the attack. No one expected her to win 1st place in the Open Women’s Division 2005 NSSA Championships!!!!! One of her achievements was the Women’s World Qualifying series (WQS) event- the 2008 Roxy Pro Women’s Surf Festival. “Everyone wants to beat her now, just like they would any other top surfer. She has overcome her challenge of being an equal now and that is a threat to the Women’s world tour,” said ASP Women’s World Tour Manager, Brooke Farris.

Bethany Hamilton-I made it myself. When Bethany isn’t in the water she is a very supportive public figure and charity worker. In 2004 she became the spokesperson for World Vision and was appointed chairwoman for the Beating the Odds Foundation. Her story has been told in thousands of books, magazine, newspapers, talk shows, news shows and more. Bethany threw the 1st pitch for the first pitch ceremonies for the Oakland A’s (2004) and the New York Yankees (2005). She has starred in an episode of ABC’s “Switched,” appeared on The Tonight show, Oprah, Ellen, The People Magazine, 20/20, Time Magazine, The 700 Club, MTV’s TRL, and many other magazines and Television shows. In July 2004 she won the ESPN ESPY award for the best come back athlete. At the 2004 FOX teen choice awards, Janet Jackson presented her with a special courage award. In 2005 USA Today awarded her with their Free Spirit Award, as well she received the, Mildred “Babe” Didrikson Zacharias Courage Award from the United States Sports Academy. Bethany wrote an autobiography called "Soul Surfer" which was released in 2004, and becoming a major motion picture in 2008. She has released 7 other books since 2007. She said she never wanted to write a book, her friends and family convinced her.

I would describe Bethany as a courageous, amazing, talented, positive woman and I hope she stays that way. She is the perfect example of a hero because she never gave up, always tried her hardest and wanted to be treated the same as everyone else. I chose Bethany Hamilton to be my hero because I didn’t know who she was and she seemed interesting. Ta Ta for now!