A new film, Soul Surfer, is opening today across the U.S. – it tells the story of Bethany Hamilton, a courageous teenage girl who persevered in a competative surfing career despite losing her arm to a shark at age thirteen.
It’s hard to imagine having the courage to go anywhere near the ocean after losing your arm to a shark bite. Having the courage to go back into the ocean and participate in a sport that is difficult and dangerous for people with two arms after such a traumatic accident is extraordinary. That’s what makes Bethany Hamilton such an interesting and inspiring kid.
“For me, watching her do what she does just makes me want to try that much harder,” elite pro surfer Alana Blanchard, Hamilton’s close friend and witness to the 2003 attack, said Wednesday in an interview. “She is amazing how motivated she is and just how inspiring she is to everyone.”
Hamilton was born into a surfing family in Kaui, Hawaii. She was surfing with Blanchard and Blanchard’s father and brother when the shark struck. The Blanchard family’s quick assistance was the only thing that saved her life. To everyone’s surprise, Hamilton was back in the water only a month after losing her arm. She won a national amateur surfing title less than a year later.
Anna Sophia Robb, who plays Bethany in Soul Surfer found it hard to act with just one arm, much less surf. Robb recalled in a Collider.com interview: “I had my arm behind my back so there were times that I was tempted to reach out for something, and then I had to remember [that I couldn't]. There are a lot of things that you can’t really do, like tying your bathing suit, carrying bags out to the car, or opening a bottle of water, which Bethany does. She just does it all. She does more with her arm than I do with my two.”
