The Basics of Bethany

Photo credit to: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kanaka/2080576562/



On October 31, 2003, while surfing in Hawaii in Kawai's North Shore Bethany Hamilton was attacked by a shark, when she was only thirteen. The shark bit her arm off just below the armpit. She lost tons of blood. She thinks she survived the attack because of believing in God. She said "It was Jesus Christ who gave me peace when I was attacked by the shark. They had to get me to the beach, which took 20 minutes of paddling."


One month after the shark attack, she started surfing again.

This blog will be based on Bethany's struggles living life with just one arm. I'll further my research on her everyday life with her accomplishments in surfing.

Overall on this blog you will learn how Bethany attended school and fit in with her peers. I wanted to write this blog about her because she is really inspiring for all of the stuff shes been through and she's still going strong. And she went back to what she loves.

January 2004, she started to be in surfing competitions again. She placed fifth in the Open Women's division. After a year from getting attacked by the shark, she placed first in the Explorer Women's division of 2005. That was her first time winning a national title. 2007 she decided to go pro in surfing and participated in tons of Association of Surfing Professionals and World Tour Events. One of her big accomplishments is placing second in the 2009 World Junior Championships.

Bethany has also had a movie about her that came out April 8, 2011 in theatres and it was all about her life and struggles of having just one arm. She wrote a book about her survival 2004 autobiography Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board. She has guest appeared on The Biggest Loser, 20/20, Good Morning America, Inside Edition, The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Today Show, and also The Tonight Show. She has articles about her in the People magazine and Time.