Bethany Hamilton: The Surfer Who Wouldn't Stay Down

On October 31, 2003, 13-year-old Bethany Hamilton was surfing off the coast of Kauai, Hawaii, when a 14-foot tiger shark attacked her, severing her left arm just below the shoulder. She lost 60% of her blood.

Most people would never enter the ocean again. Bethany was back on her surfboard 26 days later.

"I don't need easy. I just need possible."

The Impossible Return

Surfing with one arm meant relearning everything. Balance. Paddling. Duck-diving under waves. Every movement that had been automatic now required conscious adaptation.

But Bethany didn't just want to surf again — she wanted to compete. And win.

Less than two years after the attack, she took first place at the NSSA National Championships. She went on to become a professional surfer, competing against the best in the world — all with one arm.

More Than Surfing

"People ask me what I lost," Bethany reflects. "But I prefer to think about what I gained. I gained perspective. I gained purpose. I gained a platform to show people what's possible."

Her story was adapted into the film "Soul Surfer" in 2011. But Bethany's impact extends far beyond Hollywood. She's become a voice for adaptive athletes, a mentor to amputees worldwide, and a symbol of resilience that transcends sport.

Living Unstoppable

Today, Bethany is a wife, mother, and continues to surf competitively. She's surfed while pregnant. She's surfed with her babies on her back. She's proven that the word "limitation" is often just a failure of imagination.

"That shark took my arm," she says simply. "But it didn't take my purpose. It revealed it."

Her story asks us all: what wave are you afraid to ride? What would you attempt if you knew failure wasn't the end?

This is unstoppable momentum.