When Bethany Hamilton was 13 years old, a shark bit off her left arm, possibly ending a bright career. But she quickly picked up surfing again, winning a national championship in 2005.
What Happened to The Shark That Attacked Bethany Hamilton?
When Bethany Hamilton was talking to Alana while lying on her surfboard belly-down, a tiger shark that was 14 feet (4.3 m) long attacked her.
A family of fishermen led by Ralph Young showed investigators images of a 14-foot (4.3 m) long (tiger shark) they had captured and killed about one mile from the attack location when word of the shark attack first surfaced.
Its mouth included pieces of a surfboard. Hamilton’s broken board and the measurement of its mouth were found to coincide. The police formally confirmed that it was the same person who had attacked her in late 2004.
The shark attack left Bethany with physical scars, but she didn’t let it affect her emotionally. Three weeks after losing her arm, she picked up her board again rather than spend the rest of her life being afraid of the ocean.
She won her first national surfing title a little over a year later. Her ambition of becoming a professional surfer came true in 2007, and since then, she has won many competitions, garnered countless awards, and been sponsored extensively.