" Courage doesn't mean you don't get afraid. Courage means you don't let fear stop you."
-Bethany Hamilton. Bethany was born into a family of surfers on February 8, 1990 in Kauai,
Hawaii. Bethany began surfing at a young age and entered her first competition at the age of
eight. She is inspiring to many people because of her tragic story and how she got back up and
did it again.
Bethany was surfing in Kauai, Hawaii on October 31, 2003 at the age of thirteen when
she was attacked by a fourteen foot tiger shark. She was laying on her blue and red board with
her left arm dangling in the water, when it tensed up and the water turned bright red. This big
event is what has inspired many people today, not just …show more content…
She has this positive impact on me that
makes me feel like anyone can do anything even without something like a body part, and you
can do it all with fear or without fear. One month after the attack she returned to the water to surf
again and learned how to compete and surf with one arm. After a lot of hard work she learned
how to surf with only one arm.
A few positive impacts on the society that she did are charities and volunteering. After
Bethany's tragic injury, she started her own foundation called, "Friends of Bethany". It is a
foundation to support shark attack survivors and traumatic amputees. She goes to visit them in
hospitals and also has events for them when they can learn how to surf and participate in lots
of fun events. This foundation has inspired and brought hope to lots of people with injuries
similar to Bethanys.
Some people may argue that Bethany has only been helping people for a short amount of
time, but even though Bethany has helped people for only thirteen years, she has done so