Bethany Hamilton

The cover to bethanys book

To me a Hero is a role model for someone. My hero is the famous surfer Bethany Hamilton. Bethany Hamilton is fearless, tough, and very dedicated to what she does. She overcame a very tragic accident when she was only thirteen years old. Bethany was attacked by a fourteen foot tiger shark while surfing at the beach. She proves to me what it takes to be fearless. She got back in the water after the accident!

Bethany surfing with only one arm (http://myhero.com)

Bethany Hamilton was born and raised in Hawaii. She has two older brothers Noah and Tim Hamilton and two very supportive parents. Bethany started surfing before she could walk and it’s been her dream to become professional ever since. Bethany is a very religious girl and after the accident she couldn’t stop praying that God would put her back on a board. Her dreams were thought to be shattered when she was attacked by a fourteen foot tiger shark and lost her left arm.

Bethany Hamilton

It was October 31, 2003 when Bethany was attacked. Bethany and her mom drove to a beach and when they didn’t find and good waves they went to another beach where Bethany saw her friend Alana and Alana’s dad. Alana has been Bethany’s surfing buddy ever since they were in third grade. When Bethany, Alana, and Alana’s dad went out into the water, Bethany decided to go out further to catch bigger waves. After a few minutes Bethany was laying on her board when she felt a tug on her left arm. When she looked down, she noticed it wasn’t there and she was bleeding.

Bethany stayed surprisingly calm throughout the whole crazy experience. Nobody thought Bethany would live through it because she was so far out in the water and she lost so much blood as she paddled back with only one arm. With the help of Alana and her dad they helped Bethany swim back to shore. Alana’s father called a helicopter to come and airlift Bethany to a hospital right away. The paramedic told Bethany as she was in the air that God will never leave her side.

Bethany (http://library.thinkquest.org)

As Bethany spent two long weeks in the hospital she thought of ways to still be involved with surfing without having to surf. One of her plans was to become a photographer for surfing. Thinking about how she would never be able to surf again made Bethany more depressed. Only one week after she was released from the hospital which is only three weeks after the attack Bethany went to the beach with all her old surfing buddies. She called her parents and told them she was going to surf again. Her parents rushed over to see Bethany surfing on a long board.

After only three sessions Bethany got up and surfed on the long board and the long board quickly went to the short board. With all the love for surfing and a lot of support from her family and friends Bethany was able to get back up and surf again. After everything that happened to Bethany you would think she would just quit and give up surfing foe good but she didn't. Bethany kept striving for what she wanted most and she did it and that is why Bethany Hamilton is my hero.