Bethany Hamilton

Bethany sitting at her summer home

Bethany Hamilton is 15. She was born February 8, 1990 on the island of Kauai. She started to surf when she was 9 and was in her first competition when she was 11 years old. She is an advid surfer and a very nice girl. She lives in Hawaii, where everyone knows her name. She is also known as a hero to young teens all over the U.S.

On October 31, 2003, Bethany got attacked by a 14-foot tiger shark. Her arm was bitten off. She did not let that stop her from being a great young surfer. Ten days after her attack she was back up and surfing again, and she got herself into a competition... WOW! She was great, and to this day she goes out to the ocean and surfs.

During the month of July, Bethany won the 2004 ESPY Award for Best Comeback Athlete. Then in August she was presented with a special Courage Award by Janet Jackson at the 2004 Teen Choice Awards. She has gotten these awards and many, many more.

Bethany Hamiliton just published her first book about her life; it is called Soul Surfer. It is a great book. She is my hero because she has been through so much in her life but yet she still has the courage to go on and surf. Since losing her arm, Bethany has been featured all over the media, both nationally and internationally. Her story has been told in dozens of newspapers, magazines, news shows, talk shows, commercials, reality shows, and more.

She is a great person to look up to. Her story shows that your hero does not always have to be older than you... she is almost the same age as me.