Bethany Hamilton

Bethany Hamilton was born into a family of surfers on February 8, 1990, on the island of Kauai, Hawaii and began surfing at a young age. At the age of eight, Bethany entered her first surf competition, the Rell Sun Menehune event on Oahu, where she won both the short and long board divisions. This made her really interested in surf competitions.

At the age of thirteen, on October 31, 2003, Bethany was attacked by a 4 metres tiger shark while surfing off Kauai’s North Shore. The attack left Bethany with a severed left arm. After losing over 60% of her blood, and surviving several surgeries without infection, Bethany was on her way to recovery with an incredibly positive attitude. Lifeguards and doctors believe her strong water sense and faith in God helped get her through the traumatic ordeal. 

Miraculously, just one month after the attack, Bethany returned to the water to continue pursuing her goal to become a professional surfer. In January of 2004, Bethany made her return to surf competition and ended up 5th in the Open Women’s division of that contest. Bethany was not going to stop so she continued to enter and excel in competition. Just over a year after the attack she took 1st place in the Explorer Women’s division of the 2005 NSSA National Championships – winning her first National Title.

Since 2007, Bethany has participated in numerous ASP and World Tour Events with her major highlight being a second place finish in the ASP 2009 World Junior Championships. 

Since losing her arm, Bethany’s story has been told in hundreds of media outlets and she has been recognized with numerous awards, public appearances, and various speaking engagements. 

Adapted from 

http://bethanyhamilton.com/about/bio/