Bethany Meilani Hamilton is an American professional surfer.
She is known for surviving a shark attack in which her left arm was bitten off, and
for overcoming the injury to ultimately return to professional surfing.
She wrote about her experience in the 2004 autobiography Soul Surfer: A True Story of
Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board.
In April 2011, the feature film Soul Surfer was released, based on the book and additional
interviews.
She has appeared on many television shows since the loss of her arm.
Surfing career *4th at Brazil event, 5th at World Games event
in the United States.
Shark attack and recovery On October 31, 2003, at age 13, Bethany Hamilton
went for a morning surf along Tunnels Beach, Kauai with best friend Alana Blanchard and
Alana's father Holt and brother Bryan.
Around 7:30 am., with numerous turtles in the area, she was lying on her surfboard with
her left arm dangling in the water, when a 14 foot tiger shark attacked her, severing
her left arm just below the shoulder.
The Blanchards helped paddle her back to shore, then Alana's father fashioned a tourniquet
out of a surfboard leash and wrapped it around the stump of her arm, before she was rushed
to Wilcox Memorial Hospital.
By the time she arrived there she had lost over 60% of her blood and was in hypovolemic
shock.
Then a doctor living in a hotel nearby raced to the rescue.
Her father, who was scheduled to have knee surgery that morning, was already there, but
she took his place in the operating room.
She spent a week in recovery before being released.
During subsequent media interviews, she confirmed that she felt normal when she was bitten and
did not feel much pain from the bite at the moment of the disaster, but felt numb on the
way to the hospital.
When the news broke out of the shark attack, a family of fishermen led by Ralph Young,
presented to investigators photos of a 14-foot-long tiger shark they had caught and killed about
one mile from the attack site.
It had surfboard debris in its mouth.
When measurements of it mouth were compared with those of Hamilton's broken board, it
matched.
In late 2004, the police officially confirmed that it was the one that attacked her.
Despite the trauma of the incident, Hamilton was determined to return to surfing.
In three weeks after the incident, she returned to her board.
Initially, she adopted a custom-made board that was longer and slightly thicker than
standard and had a handle for her right arm, making it easier to paddle, and she learned
to kick more to make up for the loss of her left arm.
After teaching herself to surf with one arm, on January 10, 2004, she entered a major competition.
She now uses standard competitive performance short-boards.
Hamilton's broken surfboard that she was riding during the attack is on display at the California
Surf Museum.
Media Since the attack, she has been a guest on
numerous television shows.
Her manager Roy "Dutch" Hofstetter, who went on to produce the film "Soul Surfer", managed
her rise through the media from "shark attack victim" to "inspirational role model".
The television shows she has appeared on include The Biggest Loser, 20/20, Good Morning America,
Inside Edition, The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Today Show and The
Tonight Show, as well as in magazines People, Time and American Girl.
Additionally, she was the cover story in the premier issue of Nine magazine.
In 2004, she won the ESPY Award for Best Comeback Athlete and also received the Courage Teen
Choice Award.
In 2004, MTV Books published Hamilton's book, Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family,
and Fighting to Get Back on the Board, which describes her ordeal.
Her story is also told in the 2007 short subject documentary film, Heart of a Soul Surfer,
directed by Becky Baumgartner.
Described as a "faith-based documentary", the film addresses her devout Christianity
and the courage and faith in Jesus Christ in the aftermath of the shark attack, and
follows her quest for spiritual meaning.
On August 7, 2009, she was a contestant on Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?
and won $25,000.
On May 16, 2010, she appeared on an episode of ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.
In March 2011, Hamilton did a video for the Christian organization, I Am Second, telling
about her struggle after the shark attack and how she trusted in God to get her through
it.
On October 11, 2011, she appeared on the TLC series 19 Kids and Counting, in the episode
titled "Duggars Under the Sea", when the Duggar family visited her, in Atlanta, Georgia.
Hamilton is due to play herself in the upcoming sequel to the 2011 film Dolphin Tale, which
revolves around the baby dolphin Hope's story.
Filming began in Clearwater, Florida on October 7, 2013 and is due to finish some time in
January 2014.
It is set to be released on September 19, 2014.
Hamilton and her husband Adam Dirks are racing as a team in The Amazing Race 25.
Soul Surfer On April 8, 2011, a feature film Soul Surfer,
based on her 2004 book, was released in theaters.
Hamilton was portrayed by actress AnnaSophia Robb.
She performs all the one-armed surfing stunts in it.
The DVD and Blu-Ray was released on August 2, 2011.
Personal life Bethany was home schooled from the age of
10.
She is the youngest of three siblings.
In early 2012, Hamilton met youth minister Adam Dirks through mutual friends.
They became engaged in April 2013.
The couple were married on August 18, 2013 in front of 300 friends and family members
at a secluded 130-acre estate on Kauai's north shore, near where she grew up.
References
External links CBS News interview
Bethany Hamilton Video produced by Makers: Women Who Make America
Bethany Hamilton and the Teeth of the Tiger