Bethany Hamilton Research Papers

Not many people go through a big portion of their life with one arm. To do this you have to be willing to try new things and take lots of risks. Bethany Hamilton took those risks. For my IRP I choose to read Soul Surfer by Bethany Hamilton. It is an autobiography about Bethany's journey after a terrible shark attack. She wasn’t afraid of the challenges after the shark attack that would hit her when she got home.
Bethany was a young girl growing up on the island of Kauai. She lived a normal life growing up with her mom, dad, dog(ginger) and her two older brothers. She also had a best friend named Alana that was a big part of her life. Since she had two older brothers she was very determined to compete with them and be like them. When she was little she discovered a passion for surfing. Her and Alana would go out surfing almost everyday. Bethany and Alana's parents thought it would be a good idea to homeschool the girls to create a more flexible surfing schedule. As a child when Bethany wasn’t surfing she was making mudslides and sliding down them. In the book they mentioned how she loved the outdoors.
One day her and Alana’s family decided to go surfing along the North Shore. As Bethony rested her arm in the water searching for the next wave it was bitten off by a shark. She immediately started to loose lots of blood. Alana’s dad thankfully had some experience and enough knowledge to know how to get her to safety. She reached the hospital and had a procedure to stitch up her arm(which now was a nub). After the attack was the struggle. She was so eager to start surfing again. At points she got extremely discouraged because surfing with one arm is a lot harder than she had expected. She slowly gained her skill back and became a role model for many people across the