Bethany Hamilton
Bethany Hamilton
Bethany Meilani Hamilton-Dirksis an American professional surfer who survived a 2003 shark attack in which her left arm was bitten off, but ultimately returned to—and was victorious in—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 ...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionSurfer
Date of Birth8 February 1990
CityLihue, HI
CountryUnited States of America
Learn to have patience with people, just take it one step at a time in everything that you're doing and just invest time in the people that you're with ... have patience with them, even if they're not necessarily the easiest person to work with.
Love is bigger than any tidal wave or fear.
The end...is just the beginning
Losing an arm is kinda lame at one point, but at the same time, so much good has come out of it.
There's no such thing as a handicap - it's all in your head
Surfing for me is more than my lifestyle; it’s my passion, my love and it’s a part of me,
Like, with one arm I know I can surf, but competitive surfing can be really frustrating, and sometimes you don't do as well as you want to. It can be discouraging at times. But whenever I do get frustrated, I just focus on God.
Besides surfing, I play tennis, volleyball, I swim, I run hills, or I do high-intensity, high-interval workouts. I'm up at 5 A.M. every day.
I enjoy hanging out with friends, going on hikes and playing tennis. I also enjoy Bible study and making dinners. I have a pretty mellow life away from the water.
Doing everything with one arm, being well-known, and having a book and a movie, it's fairly abnormal. As far as just not having to worry about past experiences, I've healed very well.
I'm a surfer at heart. Both my parents moved to Hawaii in the 1970s, where they met and became Christians. Then they taught me and my two brothers how to love the Lord - and how to surf!
Both of my parents are surfers, of course, so they understood where my passion for surfing was at and I guess they saw the talent that I had.
I believe in Jesus Christ, and I believe He gave me the passion and determination to continue surfing. You fall off the horse, and you get back on. I had to go for it.
To lose your everyday life of surfing and being creative on waves, enjoying the ocean - that's scary to me. It was essential to at least try surfing again and get out there and see how it went.