Bethany Meilani Hamilton is an American professional surfer who survived a 2003 shark attack in which her left arm was bitten and who ultimately returned to professional surfing. She wrote about her experience in the 2004 autobiography Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board, which was adapted into the 2011 feature film soul surfer. She was also the subject of a 2013 documentary, Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable.
She began surfing at the age of 8 and gained her first sponsorship by age 9.On October 31, 2003, Hamilton, aged 13 at the time, went for a morning surf along Tunnels Beach. While lying on her surfboard belly-down and talking with Alana (her best friend), a 14-foot-long (4.3 m) tiger shark attacked her. Despite the trauma of the incident, Hamilton was determined to return to surfing. One month after the attack, she returned to her board.
She got married to Adam Dirks on August 18, 2013 and has 3 kids.
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