BethanyHamilton

On the island of Kauai, Hawaii, on February 8th, 1990, Bethany Hamilton was born into a family of Surfers. She began surfing at a very young age. As a toddler her parents, Tom and Chari, would put her on a surfboard. Holding on, her parents would wade in with her. They also began sharing with her the teachings of Jesus Christ. Then at age 5, Bethany made a decision to have a personal relationship with Jesus. By age seven, Bethany was surfing with no help from her parents. At age eight in 'Paris, they entered her in Rell Sun Munehune Contest on Oahu where she won both long and short board Divisions. Within Bethany sparked a love for surf competition that all young surfers need to become great. The day came on October 31st, 2003, when Bethany Hamilton proved to be a real hero. It was Halloween morning. It was sunny and a perfect day for surfing. Bethany and her best friend Alana Blanchard decided to catch some waves. Alana's father and brother came along. Bethany was catching great waves when all of a sudden a huge 14-foot tiger shark attacked her. The shark severed her left arm, 4 inches below her shoulder. She lost 60% of her blood, and made it through several surgeries and had no infections. She went through the recovery process with an unbelievably positive attitude.

Later it hit the press that they needed to find out about teenaged Bethany Hamilton. But to their surprise, Bethany only did one interview with local television personality Guy Hagi. Bethany's family and close friends handled all other interviews.

Unsure of the waters that lay ahead of her, Bethany thought to herself. "Will I ever surf again?” Even with those doubts Bethany could hear the faint whisper of her heart begging to surf and even fainter she heard a small "yes I will." with that in mind, Bethany decided to give surfing with one arm a try. Just a few short months after the attack she returned to the water.

On January 2004 she went to her first competition since the attack. The judges said they would give her a five minute head start but she refused! She said she would not be treated like a handicapped person! Bobbi Lee, NSSA Hawaii conference director, couldn't believe it! Then they gave Bethany a key to have more time to warm up before races but once again she refused, saying, ”Once I get up on my board I'll be okay.” She was back to her own self again. And when they announced the ranking, she was 5th in the Open Women's division. Later she said, "This is a good way to start.”

Wondering why I picked Bethany Hamilton? Well for me, it's hard not to see that Bethany shows leadership, eagerness, friendship, courage, adventure, determination, and athletic strength. She demonstrates these in her daily life. When she is surfing she wants to be treated equally, just like everybody else. I believe that God put Bethany Hamilton on October 31st in Hawaii to have her be an example of courage and perseverance to show the world who she is. Not a pretty, perfect supermodel but a brave, strong Christian girl who won't give up just because she has one arm. And God didn't want to waste her. He wanted her to show the world what Christians are like. One more thing, this is something that Bethany said in her interview. "I know I have something important to say something that people need to hear, but sometimes they get so caught up in the story part that they miss the meaning.” Bethany may think that, but I didn't miss it. I got the whole package, I didn't miss a thing. I hope you won't miss a thing either.