31/07/2013
Good morning friends, I'm going to share something special today. Hope this will give us some inspiration to improve ourselves!
There is a girl named Bethany Meilani Hamilton, born on 8th of February 1990, in Lihue, Hawaii.
On October 31, 2003, at the age of 13, Hamilton went for a morning surf along Tunnels Beach, Kauai with best friend Alana Blanchard and Alana's father and brother. Around 7:30 a.m., with numerous turtles in the area, she was lying on her surfboard with her left arm dangling in the water, when a 14 to 15 foot tiger shark attacked her, severing her left arm just below the shoulder.
By the time she arrived there she had lost over 60% of her blood and was in hypovolaemic shock. Her father, who was scheduled to have knee surgery that morning, was already at the hospital, but she took his place in the operating room. She then spent seven more days in recovery at the hospital. She was interviewed by reporters and witnesses for several days. When she answered questions, she confirmed that she felt normal when she was bitten and did not feel much pain from the bite at the moment of the disaster; but was feeling really numb when she was in the ambulance.
When the news broke out of the shark attack, a family of fishermen led by a man named Ralph Young, presented a clue to the police and investigators. In their family sized canoe/boat they had caught and killed a 15 foot long tiger shark about one mile from the attack site and photographed it. The shark had some bits of surfboard in its mouth. When the shark's mouth was measured with Hamilton's demolished surfboard, it matched. In late 2004, the police officially confirmed that the shark was the one that bit Bethany Hamilton.
Despite the trauma of the incident, Hamilton was determined to return to surfing. Less than one month after the incident, she returned to her board. Initially, she adopted a custom-made board that was longer and slightly thicker than standard and had a handle for her right arm, making it easier to paddle, and she learned to kick more to make up for the loss of her left arm. After teaching herself to surf with one arm, on January 10, 2004, she entered a major competition. She now uses standard competitive performance short-boards.
Placings in surf competitions
Year Event Place Country
1998 Rell Sun Menehune 1st States
2002 Open Women's NSSA 1st States
2004 NSSA National Competition 5th States
2005 NSSA National Competition 1st States
2005 O'Neill Island Girl Junior 1st States
2006 NSSA National C'ship 5th States
2006 Hawaii Team Highlights 4th States
2007 NSSA Regionals 5th States
2007 Women's Pipeline C'ship 4th States
2008 US Open of Surfing 5th States
2008 Roxy Pro Surf Festival 3rd Australia
2009 Rio Surf International 3rd Brazil
2009 Billabong ASP C'ship 2nd Australia
Hats off!
Source: Wikipedia
