Surfer’s Tale of Strength and Faith Portrayed in ‘Soul Surfer’

Bethany Hamilton was little known outside the competitive surfing community until a tiger shark took her arm off along the coast of Kauai when she was 13 years old.

That moment and that loss do not define Bethany Hamilton. They merely galvanize who she already was. And she doesn’t want anyone to feel sorry for her, because she certainly doesn’t.

“Ultimately, I hope that my struggles and what I went though can hopefully be encouraging,” says Hamilton, now 21. She’s out promoting the film Soul Surfer, based on her autobiography and starring Dennis Quaid, Helen Hunt and AnnaSophia Robb as Bethany.

The movie, which opens today, captures not only that fateful shark encounter, but also her return to the ocean and the family and faith that ground her.

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