I won't stop surfing, says shark attack girl

The teenage surfer who lost an arm in a horrific shark attack says she will not give up her beloved sport.

Speaking in Kilauea, Hawaii, 13-year-old Bethany Hamilton told the Associated Press that although she might never surf competitively again, she would continue her passion.

Bethany, a top amateur surfer who was expected to turn professional, was lying on her surfboard, taking a break after catching some early morning waves, when the shark emerged near her left arm that was dangling in the Pacific. She was suddenly being jerked back and forth.

“I looked down at the red water,” she recalled. “Right away I knew it was a shark and I knew my arm was gone.”

Bethany lost more than half her blood and all but four inches of her arm. Those who witnessed the attack say Bethany never screamed or panicked.

“There’s no need for that,” she told AP nearly three weeks after the attack, in one of the first in a series of interviews and TV appearances. “I wasn’t that scared. I didn’t think I was going to die or anything.”

Bethany, tall and lean, with blonde hair and a tan, has accepted her misfortune with remarkable serenity.

“There’s no time machine,” she said. “I can’t change it. That was God’s plan for my life and I’m going to go with it.”

For all the nightmarish drama the shark attack conveys, Bethany recounts it with nonchalance. She arose at around 5am on October 31, heading out to do what she loved – surfing with her best friend, Alana Blanchard.

After about 30 minutes of action, she took a break, dangling her arm in the ocean, when the 15ft tiger shark attacked.

Blanchard’s father, Holt, surfing nearby, used a surf leash as a tourniquet. Fellow surfers towed her in on a surfboard. She blacked out briefly, then woke up ashore.

When she reached Wilcox Memorial Hospital, another amazing part of the story unfolded: Bethany’s father, Tom Hamilton, had been lying on the operating table, moments away from knee surgery, when a doctor burst through the doors, saying the theatre was needed for a shark attack victim.

When he heard it was a 13-year-old, Tom Hamilton’s heart sank. He knew it was either his daughter or her best friend.

Bethany spent nearly a week in the hospital and has remained largely in seclusion since then.

When her bandages were removed – and her stump was revealed – one of her brothers turned white, her mother nearly collapsed and her grandmother went outside and wept.

She was awaiting word today on when she could return to the water.

“If I was like a person that just quit surfing after this, I wouldn’t be a real surfer,” she said. “I’m definitely going to get back in the water.”

Bethany hopes to be fitted with prosthetics allowing her to continue not only to surf but also to play the guitar. She plans to try snowboarding for the first time this winter, and she is aiming for a career in photography.

Around Bethany’s neck hangs a glittering gold surfboard – a get-well gift from a family friend. It has a diamond in the centre and a bite taken out of the top, just like her own board, with its 16-inch gash.

Bethany said the attack is “pretty much all I think about” and she has revisited the horrible event in her dreams four times since the incident.

But she said: “If you don’t get over it, then you’ll just be sad and cry.”