Bethany Hamilton

Bethany Hamilton is honestly one of the most jaw-dropping comeback stories in sports history, full stop. She grew up surfing the waters of Kauai, Hawaii, and was already competing seriously as a teenager when a tiger shark took her left arm on Halloween morning in 2003. She was 13. Most people would never go near the ocean again — I know I wouldn't — but she was back on her board within a month, learning to paddle and balance all over again with one arm. She went on to compete professionally, write the autobiography Soul Surfer, which became a film, and build a platform around faith and resilience that clearly resonates with millions of people. What gets me is that she didn't just survive; she genuinely thrived on her own terms, redefining what "professional surfer" even means.

Name (English)

Bethany Hamilton

Name (Japanese)

ベサニー・ハミルトン

Reading

べさにー・はみるとん

Born

February 8, 1990 (age 36)

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Aquarius / Horse

Origin

Līhuʻe, Hawaii, United States

Height

180 cm

Occupation

surfer / autobiographer / writer / athlete

Motto

Private

• Official sitehttps://bethanyhamilton.com/
• Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/bethanyhamilton/
• Xhttps://x.com/bethanyhamilton
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%99%E3%82%B5%E3%83%8B%E3%83%BC%E3%83%BB%E3%83%8F%E3%83%9F%E3%83%AB%E3%83%88%E3%83%B3

Tags

• Hawaii
• surfer
• autobiographer
• writer

Last updated

2026-06-02

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.