Bethany Hamilton, who lost her left arm in a shark attack more than a
decade ago, wowed spectators at the Women’s Pro surfing competition in
Fiji, beating six-time world champion Stephanie Gilmore to advance to
semifinals.
Hamilton was an emerging surfing star in Hawaii when she was attacked
by a shark in 2003, at the age of 13. She lost her left arm and
nearly died from the blood loss.
After writing an autobiography, Hamilton returned to surfing, and was invited to the Fiji competition on a wild-card spot.
“Even after losing my arm,” she told the World Surf League at
the competition. “I’m still like doing everything I’ve hoped I could do
in my future and even more. I feel like I’m a reminder for young girls
that ‘you can do it if you set your mind to it.'”
Hamilton said that she’s dreamed of coming to Fiji, and that the
entire competition has been “a blast.” She had defeated top-ranked
surfer Tyler Wright and Stephanie Gilmore before being eliminated
by Johanne Defay in semifinals.
“Steph and Tyler and Chris are three of my favorite female surfers
and I was pretty daunted,” Hamilton said. “At the end of the day, it’s
just getting it together and catching the right waves and just surfing
my best.”
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