Research Paper On Soul Surfer

Bethany Hamilton was born in Kauai, Hawaii in 1990. One Halloween morning in 2003 her life would change forever. On that day a shark bit off her arm while she was surfing. Soul Surfer is a book about this 13 year old girl and her battle to overcome life’s obstacles. Bethany wrote the nonfiction narrative to explain how this tragic incident changed her life. The attack put her life and what matters into perspective. She believes everything happens for a reason.
Competitive surfing is all Bethany ever knew . Because of the great amount of time she put into her training as a surfer, she did not experience the same types of things that other kids her age did. She went to public school until the 4th grade. After that she was homeschooled by

her mother. She was taught regular school subjects with the difference being Bethany had to learn in her spare time, when she was not surfing. Her life started to change. Everything was surfing and there was no time for things like hanging out with her friends, going to school dances or other activities kids her age do. Then in one split second on a Halloween morning her life would be thrown into a whirlwind and nothing would ever be the same again.
Bethany’s shark attack and how she overcame the tragedy is what the story is about. She overcame her loss with a lot of physical and occupational therapy along with her faith in God. Only a few months after her accident, Bethany was able to get back into the water. She was even able to surf with one arm. Bethany opened her life to the public by writing her story and has inspired many people. She knows there is no explanation as to why this happened to her. As she stated in her book, this could have happened to any one of the surfers out in the ocean. She overcame her loss and has not let it ruin her life.
Bethany is now in her late 20s. Her story inspires people to not give up. She overcame the loss of her arm and wasn't afraid to go back into the ocean to do what she loves best, surf.