Bethany Hamilton is a professional surfer from America. At 13 years of age, she was attacked by a shark while surfing, resulting in the loss of her arm.
Despite this serious injury, she was able to return to the sport and became a source of motivation for many through her story. In addition to her successful surfing career, she is also an author and motivational speaker.
Bethany Hamilton Bio Details
Full name: Bethany Meilani Hamilton
Date of birth: February 8, 1990
Age: 34 years old (2024)
Gender: Female
Zodiac: Aquarius
Place of birth: Lihue, Hawaii, U.S.
Marital status: Married
Husband: Adam Dirks
Children: 4
Current residence: Kauai, Hawaii, U.S.
Height: 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight: 154 lb (70 kg)
Profession: Professional surfer and author
Early Life
Bethany Hamilton was born on February 8, 1990, in Lihue, Hawaii, to Tom and Cheri Hamilton. She has two elder siblings, Noah and Timothy. At the young age of three, Hamilton picked up the skill of surfing, and by the time she was eight, she was already competing.
By the time she was 10, she had landed her first sponsorship deal. Throughout her middle and high school years, Hamilton was taught at home by her mother, who was a homemaker, while her father worked as a server at a local café.
Shark Attack Incident
13-year-old Hamilton, together with her best friend Alana Blanchard, as well as Alana’s father and brother, went for a morning surf at Tunnels Beach, Kauai on October 31, 2003.
As Hamilton and Alana talked, she was suddenly attacked by a 14-foot-long tiger shark while lying on her stomach on a surfboard. The shark bit off Hamilton’s left arm just below the shoulder as it was dangling under the water.
After the Blanchards assisted in paddling Hamilton to the shore, Alana’s father improvised a tourniquet using a rash guard and applied it to her amputated arm.
Bethany Hamilton was quickly transported to Wilcox Memorial Hospital, where it was discovered that she had already lost more than half of her blood and was experiencing hypovolemic shock. Despite her father’s prior surgical appointment, he stayed at the hospital and Hamilton took his spot in the operating room with the same surgeon.
Despite the difficult experience, Hamilton’s determination to continue surfing led her back to the waves just a month after the incident.
She started by using a specially designed board that was longer and slightly thicker than usual and also had a handle for her right arm to aid in paddling. Additionally, Hamilton had to adapt her technique by kicking more to compensate for the absence of her left arm.
Following her self-taught surfing experience with only one arm, Bethany Hamilton made a comeback on November 26, 2003, just 26 days after the incident. She then made her debut in a significant competition on January 10, 2004, using traditional short boards for competitive purposes.
The surfboard she was riding during the shark attack, along with the swimsuit gifted to her by ocean photographer Aaron Chang, is now exhibited at the California Surf Museum in Oceanside, California.
Career
Following the attack, Bethany Hamilton has made several appearances as a guest on various television programs. Her manager, Roy “Dutch” Hofstetter, who later produced the movie Soul Surfer, oversaw Hamilton’s journey from shark attack survivor to a source of inspiration in the media.
She has made appearances on various television programs such as The Amazing Race, The Biggest Loser, 20/20, Good Morning America, Inside Edition, The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Today Show, The Tonight Show, and Dude Perfect.
She has also been featured in People, Time, and American Girl magazines, and was the featured cover story in the inaugural edition of NiNe magazine.
In 2004, Bethany Hamilton was honored with the ESPY Award for Best Comeback Athlete and was also given the Courage Teen Choice Award. That year, MTV Books released Hamilton’s book, Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Overcoming Obstacles to Return to the Waves, which details her experience. Hamilton’s journey is also documented in the 2007 short film, Heart of a Soul Surfer.
Hamilton competed on the game show Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? in 2009 and took home a prize of $25,000. The following year, she made an appearance on ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.
Additionally, in 2010, she was featured on the TLC show 19 Kids and Counting in the episode “Duggars Under the Sea,” which documented the Duggar family’s trip to see her in Atlanta, Georgia.
In Dolphin Tale 2, Bethany Hamilton portrays her character as the film follows the journey of a young dolphin named Hope. Along with her husband, Adam Dirks, she participated as a duo on the 25th season of The Amazing Race, ultimately placing third. The show aired on CBS in 2014.
The 2018 documentary, Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable, chronicles Hamilton’s journey from her youth to becoming a mother. She goes from chasing after her young child to chasing the most massive waves. Hamilton consistently defies expectations as a bold athlete and redefines the saying, “Surf Like a Girl.”
Personal Life
Bethany Hamilton first crossed paths with Adam Dirks, a youth minister, at the beginning of 2012 thanks to some shared acquaintances.
The two got engaged in 2013 and tied the knot on August 18 of the same year at a property located on the north shore of Kauai, close to Hamilton’s hometown. Together, they have a family of four children consisting of three boys and one girl.
