Bethany Hamilton

Bethany Meilani Hamilton (born February 8, 1990) is an American surfer. She is known for surviving a shark attack in which she lost her left arm, and for overcoming the serious and debilitating injury to return to surfing. Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 543 pixelsFull resolution (1106 × 751 pixel, file size: 334 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) (All user names refer to en. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 543 pixelsFull resolution (1106 × 751 pixel, file size: 334 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) (All user names refer to en. ... is the 39th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... For other uses, see Surfing (disambiguation). ... For the film, see Shark Attack (film). ... Look up ARM in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Early life

Hamilton was born in North Shore, Kauai. Both of her parents were surfers who moved to Hawaii from the continental United States for the surfing opportunities. Hamilton was taught how to surf by her parents. Her surfing abilities progressed very quickly and, while still in school, she won first place in the "push and ride" division of a Quicksilver surfing contest. She entered her first major surfing competition at the age of 8, the "Rell Sunn" contest on the island of Oahu at Makaka beach, competing in the girls seven to nine shortboard, and seven to nine longboard, taking first place in both. Her senior career as a surfer started when she won the 1999 Haleiwa Menehune Championships 23rd annual contest. In February, 2000, she placed 1st in the "11-under girls", 1st in the "15-under girls," and 2nd in the "12-under girls" division at the Volcom Puffer Fish contest. She picked up a sponsor, Rip Curl, which aided her with her plans of becoming a professional surfer. Hamilton is also a devout Christian who uses her shark attack experience in her personal ministry. Kauai (Hawaiian IPA pron. ...

Shark attack recovery

On October 31, 2003, Hamilton went for a morning surf along Tunnels Beach, Kauai with friends Alana, Byron and Holt Blanchard. Around 7:10 a.m., she was lying sideways on her surfboard with her left arm dangling in the water, when a 14 ft tiger shark attacked her,^[1] ripping her left arm off just below the shoulder. If the shark had bitten 2 inches further in, the attack would have been fatal. Bethany had lost 60% of her blood that morning. Her friends helped her paddle back to shore, and fashioned a tourniquet out of a surfboard leash around what was left of her arm before rushing her to Wilcox Memorial Hospital. Her dad was supposed to have a knee surgery that morning but she took his place in the operating room. For other uses, see Tiger shark (disambiguation). ...

Despite the trauma of the incident, Hamilton was determined to return to surfing. Just three weeks after the incident, she returned to her board and went surfing again. She adopted a custom-made board that was longer and slightly thicker which made it easier to paddle. She has observed that she has to kick a lot harder to make up for the loss of her left arm. After teaching herself to surf with one arm, she has again begun surfing competitively.

In July of 2004 Hamilton won the ESPY Award for Best Comeback Athlete of the Year.^[2] She was presented with a special courage award at the 2004 Teen Choice Awards. Hamilton still aspires to become a professional surfer. The 10th Anniversary ESPY Award. ...

Since the attack, Hamilton has appeared on 20/20, Good Morning America, Inside Edition, The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Tonight Show, as well as in People, Time, and the Christian Music News Scoop. In 2004, MTV Books published Hamilton's book, Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board (ISBN 0-7434-9922-0), which describes her ordeal. “TIME” redirects here. ...

Heart of a Soul Surfer

The 2007 short subject documentary film, Heart of a Soul Surfer was directed by Becky Baumgartner and is currently appearing in film festivals around the world. Described as a "faith-based documentary", the film portrays the true, coming of age story of Bethany Hamilton. Addressing Hamilton's courage in the aftermath of the loss of her arm in a tiger shark attack, the film follows Hamilton's quest for spiritual meaning and purpose.^[3][4] Early American actor William Garwood starred in numerous short films, many of which were only 20 minutes in length Short subject is a format description originally coined in the North American film industry in the early period of cinema. ... Documentary film is a broad category of visual expression that is based on the attempt, in one fashion or another, to document reality. ... A film festival is the presentation or showcasing of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues. ... For other uses, see Coming of Age (disambiguation). ...

References

1. ^ About. Bethany's General Biography. BethanyHamilton.com (2004). Retrieved on 2007-09-17.
2. ^ 2004 ESPY Awards: Best Comeback, ESPN.com, March 1, 2007
3. ^ Heart of a Soul Surfer. Walking on Water. Retrieved on 2007-06-08.
4. ^ Heart of a Soul Surfer: The Bethany Hamilton Movie. Retrieved on 2007-06-08.

Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 260th day of the year (261st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 159th day of the year (160th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 159th day of the year (160th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• General
  • Official Bethany Hamilton Website
  • Bethany Hamilton's Myspace
• Documentary
  • Heart of a Soul Surfer Official site — Bethany's Personal Documentary
  • Heart of a Soul Surfer Myspace — Myspace of the Documentary
  • Article on CBS News — Article on CBS News including an interview transcript