Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Halloween of 2003, I was 13 years old, and I was surfing with my best friend.
It was like a picture perfect morning.
It was beautiful out, and the water was just crystal clear blue.
We were just surfing, waiting for waves, and I was kind of sitting out
further than everyone else, and within a split second, the shark came and
took my arm.
I didn't really have time to think much.
Right away, I just knew I had to get to the beach just to survive this.
Immediately my friends came and helped me, and I just kind of laid there and
just prayed the whole way in, just asking God for help.
I had lost about 60% of my blood, and as I was getting into the ambulance,
there was a local paramedic, and he whispered in my ear and said, God will
never leave you nor forsake you.
I gave my heart to Jesus when I was about five years old, and being able
to turn to Jesus during this crazy moment in my life, it gave me a sense
of peace and calmness, and I think that's one thing that
just kept me alive.
I'm 13, I have dreams and goals, and I was doing really well with surfing.
I didn't know if I was going to be able to surf again or not.
Surfing, there's something just really special about it.
The feelings that you get when you're on a good wave, your adrenaline's just
pumping, the blood's just flowing through your whole body.
Every wave is different.
It's not like every wave's the same, and being out there in the ocean, in
God's creation, it's like a gift that he's given us to enjoy.
I knew I wanted to continue surfing, it was more like, just waiting for the
doctor's orders to allow me to go in the water.
But I got out there, and it was pretty amazing to experience learning how to
surf with one arm.
I mean, I knew how to surf, but it was just figuring out how to
do it with one arm.
And I ended up getting up on my third wave and riding it all the way in, and
right then I just knew I'd be surfing for a long time.
Just 2 years after the shark attack, Bethany Hamilton took 1st place in the NSSA National Championships.
She currently competes full time on the ASP World Qualifying Series.
From what seems like such a horrible thing, God has just brought glory to
himself through me, and I've been able to just be a good light to people and
share his love.
I wake up every day and honor God in everything that I do, and I may fall
short sometimes, but all I want to do is love him.
My name is Bethany Hamilton, and I am Second.