Bethany Hamilton

Bethany with hero board and her missing arm. (www.sportsposterwearhouse.com)

If you were a professional surfer at the age of thirteen and you got your arm bitten off by a shark while you were surfing, would you ever want to surf again? This happened to a girl named Bethany Hamilton. After going through a few surgeries she was back surfing real soon. For many reasons I think Bethany is a hero to many, including me.

My hero is Bethany Hamilton. This happened two years ago when she was 13 years old and lived in Lihu’e, Kaua’i, Hawaii. On the 31st of October 2003, Bethany Hamilton decided to go surfing at Tunnels Beach with her best friend Alana Blanchard, and Alana’s father, at around 7:30 AM. She got her arm bitten off by a Tiger Shark while she was surfing. She was one of the state’s top competitive surfers before and after the accident. Even after the shark attack she didn’t stop surfing. Here’s her story about the accident.

While she was sitting in the water waiting for a wave, a shark about 14 feet long came and bit off her left arm, just about two inches from her shoulder, and 17 inches in from the left side of her board. She swam to shore as fast as she could by only using her right arm and her legs yelling “shark, shark!” No one believed her at first until she got out of the water with an arm missing. She was rushed to Wilcox Hospital and they said she was expected to recover. The first thing she wanted to know, after all her surgeries were done, was when she could get back to the waves and surf.

Bethany Hamilton is a great description of a survivor hero. She is considered a survivor hero because she faced her fear and was back out surfing on the same water where she had lost her arm as soon as she could. She also had the courage to go back out in the same water. She’s a survivor because she wasn’t afraid to go back into the water. She is also a survivor because she survived the attack. She also showed bravery and perseverance by going back out to surf and not giving up. Bethany had faith in herself and told herself that she could go back out into the water.

Bethany Hamilton had gotten her arm bitten off when she was surfing and she still hasn’t given up. I hope her story will encourage you to not give up even if it seems impossible to keep going. So the next time you think you want to give up, remember Bethany’s story and tell yourself that it is possible to finish what you’ve started.