Sign up for our free newsletter:

Photo: Noah Hamilton

Thirteen-year-old Bethany Hamilton, a top-ranked amateur surfer, was catching waves off the coast of Kilauea, Hawaii, one morning last October when the attack happened. As she took a breather, dangling her arm in the Pacific waters, a "gray blur" suddenly appeared.

It was a shark. A tiger shark, to be exact.

The 15-foot creature locked onto Bethany's left arm and yanked the teen-ager back and forth.

"I looked down at the red water," she recounted to the Detroit Free Press. "Right away I knew it was a shark, and I knew my arm was gone." She remembers praying to God for help, though she cannot recall the exact words.

The attack lasted only a few seconds, but it has changed her life forever.

In no time, Bethany's story became international news. The world soon discovered that this blond dynamo was not only a skillful surfer—who at 13 had been on her way to turning pro—but also a Christian who credited church and family for her remarkable resilience in the face of tragedy.

"Losing her arm will change a lot for her, but she never cried once," her brother Noah told the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. "The doctor was amazed at how well she [held up]. She told one of her friends that she's glad this happened to her because 'now I can tell the whole world about God.'"

And she has. Bethany has already made numerous media appearances on MTV, Oprah, and in magazines like Teen Vogue and YM. Wherever she goes, people soon hear about her dynamic faith. When asked by one reporter about her happiest moment so far, she answered, "I think my happiest moment was when I found out two girls on Kauai got saved" as a result of hearing her story.

Just weeks after the accident, Bethany was already back on a surfboard. In January, she was fitted with a prosthetic arm that she hopes will enable her to continue her surfing aspirations, and to one day play her guitar again.

"I can't change it," she told the Free Press about the shark attack. "That was God's plan, and I'm going to go with it."

For more info, visit www.bethanyhamilton.com

Source: The Detroit Free Press, Nov. 24, 2003 and ChurchCentral.com, Nov. 14, 2003.

	What did you think of this story?
	Please to give us your feedback.

Read more from 'People of Faith'

Home  |  People of Faith  |  Stories of Hope  |  Today's Culture
Build Your Faith  |  Laughing Matters  |  Archives  |  Contact Us

				Try an Issue of Today's Christian Free! Name Street Address City/State/Zip E-mail Address No credit card required. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Offer valid in U.S. only. Click here for International orders. If you decide you want to keep Today's Christian coming, honor your invoice for just $17.95 and receive five more issues, a full year in all. If not, simply write "cancel" across the invoice and return it. The trial issue is yours to keep, regardless. Give Today's Christian as a gift Buy 1 gift subscription, get 1 FREE!

FREE Newsletter Subscribe to the Today's Christian Newsletter    RSS Feed   RSS Help