Bethany Hamilton

The Biography

Bethany Hamilton has become a source of inspiration to millions through her story of determination, faith, and hope. At the age of thirteen, the young surfer lost her left arm to a 14-foot tiger shark. With resilience and tenacity, she returned to the water a month later; and within two years had won her first national title. Her remarkable story has been told in a best-selling autobiography and in the 2011 blockbuster sensation film, Soul Surfer. Not satisfied with mediocrity, Bethany has continually pushed her surfing ability and has proven to be one of the leading professional surfers of our time. She has been called the "Queen of Surfing" and her legendary status was confirmed when she beat two of the world's best competitive surfers during a women's pro event in Fiji in 2016. This year she is being inducted into the Surfer's Hall of Fame. Using her platform as a professional athlete to promote living a fit and healthy lifestyle, she authored the 2014 book Body and Soul. Bethany is now working on a documentary called Unstoppable, which will showcase her world class surfing and passionate life. She is involved in a number of charitable efforts, most notably her own foundation, Friends of Bethany, which reaches out to amputees and youth offering hope to overcome through Jesus Christ. In 2013, in front of 300 friends and family members at a secluded estate on Kauai's north shore, she married Adam Dirks and in 2015, the happy couple welcomed their first child, Tobias. Bethany's greatest joy is being a wife, mother, and daughter of Christ. Bethany continues to touch and inspire lives globally as a pro surfer, inspiration role model and motivational icon.