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Bethany Hamilton

by Adrienne

My hero is someone who I look up to often when things are bad. One reason I chose this person, is because of how brave she is. Her name is Bethany Hamilton. Bethany is a surfer; she is from one of the islands of Hawaii, Kauai.

She was born in 1991 and is fourteen years old now. Her attitude inspires me a lot, especially when I am unable to do something, I always look up to her. The reason why I chose her as my hero is because the “most inspiring person of year” award means something to me when I am looking for a hero. Also, the ESPY Award for Best Comeback Athlete also means something to me because when I see that in a person I know that the person who won those awards is tring as hard as they can to get over their challenge. This is why she has won all of these awards:

On October 31st, she was surfing on the north shore of Kauai when something surprising happened. A few surfers were practicing near by, and her best friend, Alana, and her friend's father were surfing with her. She was surfing the waves and having fun when a surprise happened. Her left hand was in the water; her feet were on her blue and orange surfboard when the shark came. A fourteen foot tiger shark bit right into her board, and then it went for the arm, which was quite unexpected. “My arm was just leaning in the water, and It came and bit me”, Bethany says. The shark bit her four inches below the left shoulder, and she lost almost half of her blood. Alana’s father rescued her by pulling her in with a surf leash. Her best friend, Alana, and her father said she did not cry through the whole operation. She still has her orange and blue board, with a bite taken out of it from the shark bite. After the attack, she won 5th place in the surfer’s championships. I think she is really inspiring because she shows that even though someone may have a disadvantage or an obstacle, everything will be alright in the end.

After she got bitten by the shark, she began surfing a couple of weeks later. What an amazing recovery! Before she had her arm amputated, she was a world- known surfer, and still is, and has won some competitions. She also has other hobbies like snowboarding, and writing. In her snowboarding career, she has been interviewed for a taped episode of the "The Oprah Winfrey Show," and she gave interviews to Glamour Magazine and "Entertainment Tonight" in Los Angeles.

The reason why I chose Bethany Hamilton is because of her bravery, courage and faith to keep on pushing herself to do the sport she loves to do. Obviously, nothing comes between her and the waves.

Page created on 8/28/2005 12:00:00 AM

Last edited 8/28/2005 12:00:00 AM

The beliefs, viewpoints and opinions expressed in this hero submission on the website are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the beliefs, viewpoints and opinions of The MY HERO Project and its staff.