Bethany Hamilton

A couple tugs was all it took and before she knew it her arm was gone and from what it looked like so was her career as a professional surfer. As a thirteen year old, most of us aren't worried about what the surf is like, what types of bathing suits we are wearing, or the type of surfboards we have but Bethany was the complete opposite. Her world revolved around surfing; it was a part of her life, and so quickly it could have been taken from her. She had only been in the water for 30 minutes and within those 30 minutes, Bethany was attacked by a shark, taking her arm with it. Despite the loss of her arm, she didn't let that stop her from following her dreams and doing what she loves, surfing. The life of Bethany Hamilton has changed the sport
of surfing and inspired countless people across the globe. Many people refer to Bethany as "the girl who lost her arm due to a shark attack" but what they don't know is who she was before the attack and how she got to where she is today.
Bethany Hamilton was born on February 8th, 1990 to Tom and Cheri Hamilton. Both of her parents were natural surfers from the start, so it was bound to be in her blood. At a very young age she was introduced to surfing and at only 7 years old she had developed the skills to surf on her own. She was already being placed into "push and ride" competitions which of course parents took part in considering their children's ages. Her first competition that she took place in as an individual was called "Rell Sun", where she won all of her heats and division championships. She also ended up continuing to compete in surfing competitions and from there, her career took
off. It had only been a half hour and that's all it took to have Bethany's life change forever.
It was Halloween morning but her day continued to begin like any other, with surfing, but what she didn't know was how much this day would affect the rest of her life. The water had been very clear and calm that day. Bethany however, had said, "it was more like swimming in a pool rather than the deep ocean waters of Kauai, Hawaii" (Hamilton 3). While Bethany herself, her best friend Alana, along with Alana's father and brother were in the water her left arm had been dangling off the side of her surf board moments before she was attacked by a 15ft tiger shark. She claims that when she was attacked she "felt a lot of pressure and a couple lighting hard tugs" (Hamilton 4). That day she recalls wearing a watch on her left wrist and sometimes wonders if the reflection of her watch in the clear water was what caught the sharks attention.Despite the fact that she had just been attacked by a shark all she said was,"I just got attacked by a shark" (Hamilton 71). Moments after the attack she continued to remain calm while attempting to paddle herself to shore. While this whole ordeal was going on the thought of the shark coming back for her again didn't even run through her mind. It's a known fact in which once a shark gets a taste of your own blood it's known to come back for more which could have easily happened to her. Alana's father was quick on the spot and ended up using his long sleeve rash guard as a tourniquet. A tourniquet is tied tightly to an injured arm or leg to stop or slow down the bleeding from a wound. Alana's father Holt was asking her continuous questions while in the water to make sure she didn't pass out, even though she did go in and out of consciousness. While on the beach they were able to find a paramedic, who had been given a small first aid kit from a neighbor near by allowing him to wrap her would in gauze. As she was being prepared to be taken to the hospital one of the paramedics had said to her, "God will never leave or forsake you" (Hamilton 79). In an emergency like this with a young girl having her life on the line, a 45 minute ride to the hospital wasn't in their best option but unfortunately they had no other choice.
The day Bethany had been attacked her father was also in the hospital being prepped for a procedure that would be done on his knee. Considering the attack, her fathers procedure had to be put off because they needed the exact room her father was in for Bethany. Her father hadn't heard any news of what had happened to his daughter Bethany all he had heard was something that one of the emergency nurses had said to one of the doctors in the room making sure he was aware of the situation. This emergency nurse had simply said,"Theirs a thirteen year old girl coming, a shark victim" (Hamilton 88). Her father soon realized it was either Bethany or Alana. The procedure that would now be done on Bethany was called a "traumatic amputation." It had turned out that Bethany had lost half of her blood volume 60% to be exact. Loosing that much blood is defiantly critical especially for a girl as young as she was. Bethany had to have her nerves cut, which ended up causing phantom pain. Phantom pain is when you can feel pain from a limb that is no longer their which for her was her left arm that now was going to be referred to as a 3-4 inch stub. Bethany had been told by her doctor Dr. Rovinsky that shark bites preferably tiger shark bites tend to have a higher risk of infection because of how unsanitary their
mouths were. When she was finally ready to return to the water she definitely struggled with surfing the way she used to because she would now be surfing with only one arm and not everything would come as easy for her considering she would now be surfing differently considering the drastic change that had occurred. The day she had returned back to the water her father had been in the water with her as well. Her dad had said to her, "Bethany, try it one more time. This one will be it." Then it happened. A wave rolled through,I caught it put my hand on the deck to push up, and I was standing. I guess I started getting the technique wired after that. Of course once I was on my feet, everything was easy" (Hamilton 181). Bethany had mentioned that it's important when surfing to duck dive. Duck diving is when you grab the rail of your board during powerful surf giving you the advantage to dive under the oncoming water. This technique is commonly done with two hands but unfortunately that was no longer an option for her. She ended up applying a hand strap in the center of her board so duck diving for her wouldn't be such a challenge. Bethany's story is such an inspiration to me because it shows that you don't need to have all your limbs to accomplish things that are challenging. Bethany has inspired not only me but many children across the globe with her story. I am very moved by this because she never gave up even when times were hard, including times when she thought she would be never be the surfer that she used to be. Bethany not only changed mentally and emotionally but physically as well. She would never look exactly like she used to because of the attack but because of the attack she was defiantly given a new outlook on life. Before the attack she most likely wouldn't have ever imagined losing an arm but she also never imagined her life ending up like this. The attack defiantly had the ability to change the way she looked at things around her. Bethany for sure wasn't the only person in this world to be missing a limb so she also had the ability to inspire kids that looked different from most on the outside because she was now in the same position as them. Bethany never gave up on herself and continued to persevere even when all she wanted to do was give up.