" Courage doesn't mean you don't get afraid. Courage means you don't let fear stop you."
-Bethany Hamilton. Bethany was born into a family of surfers on February 8, 1990 in Kauai,
Hawaii. Bethany began surfing at a young age and entered her first competition at the age of
eight. She is inspiring to many people because of her tragic story and how she got back up and
did it again.
Bethany was surfing in Kauai, Hawaii on October 31, 2003 at the age of thirteen when
she was attacked by a fourteen foot tiger shark. She was laying on her blue and red board with
her left arm dangling in the water, when it tensed up and the water turned bright red. This big
event is what has inspired many people today, not just …show more content…
because of surviving but for staying
positive the whole time. Not only did She lose 60% of her blood, she lost her arm almost all the
way to her shoulder. Because all of this, Bethany is the most effective citizen of the 20th century.
When Bethany was dragged out of the water by a courageous friend she sat in pain
waiting for the ambulance with a positive attitude. If you had just got attacked by a shark and
were in pain, how positive do you think you would be? Bethany says that God helps her through
bad times especially the attack. When the ambulance came to get her the paramedic told her,
"God will never leave you or forsake you." Bethany thought he was right and he was, she said
God Was there through it all. Lifeguards, paramedics, family, friends, and God helped her
through the injury and were some of the reasons why she stayed calm through it all.
Bethany is positive. She is positive because she stayed positive through the whole injury.
Through the attack and surgeries she was really positive and had nothing bad to say. She is also
brave. She is brave because she goes back in the water and surfs all the time. She does not let a
shark get in her way of doing what she loves. She is selfless. She is selfless because she does not
go walking around feeling bad for herself, she helps people who need inspiration and hope
instead of sitting around feeling bad that her arm is gone. I think Bethany is positive, brave, and
selfless because of everything she does for OTHER people.
I think Bethany is inspiring because she doesn't let something as scary as a shark attack
stop her from doing something she loves like surfing.
She has this positive impact on me that
makes me feel like anyone can do anything even without something like a body part, and you
can do it all with fear or without fear. One month after the attack she returned to the water to surf
again and learned how to compete and surf with one arm. After a lot of hard work she learned
how to surf with only one arm.
A few positive impacts on the society that she did are charities and volunteering. After
Bethany's tragic injury, she started her own foundation called, "Friends of Bethany". It is a
foundation to support shark attack survivors and traumatic amputees. She goes to visit them in
hospitals and also has events for them when they can learn how to surf and participate in lots
of fun events. This foundation has inspired and brought hope to lots of people with injuries
similar to Bethanys.
Some people may argue that Bethany has only been helping people for a short amount of
time, but even though Bethany has helped people for only thirteen years, she has done so
many
things that would take some people around twenty years to do. Even now she is still working on
helping other people. Bethany is putting herself out there not for the fame, but for others.
Bethany is not only positive, brave, and selfless but she is inspirational because she goes
and helps so many people through rough times. She does not want to be recognized for her
injury, she just wants to help others. She is the most effective citizen because of everything she
does for the community.