Extraordinary Health Magazine Extraordinary Health Vol 22 | Page 30

Bethany Hamilton Encourages Others:

Life Can Be an
Amazing Race!
By Rhonda Price

We nearly missed our chance to interview
professional surfer, actress and author
Bethany Hamilton because she was busy
waiting on a wave in Bali. Specifically,
she and 23 other top surfers competing
in the annual Rip Curl Cup were eagerly
awaiting the legendary Padang Padang
swell—also known as “the Balinese
Pipeline.” The fact that she was the first
female ever to participate in the event
in 2012—and once again this year—is
a reminder that she’s one of the most
extraordinary competitors in the world.
She’s also one of the most famous
surfers, since surviving a horrific attack
by a 14-foot tiger shark on Kauai’s North
Shore in 2003 that severed her left arm.
What she’s managed to accomplish in the
11 years since the incident is an amazing
inspiration to anyone who has struggled
with adversity.
After telling us about her “epic barrel
riding in Bali,” the bubbly 24-year-old
assured us she doesn’t view her neardeath incident as a setback, but as an
opportunity that has enabled her to share
her motivational message, love for surfing
and charitable efforts with a worldwide
audience. Determined to pursue her
passion for tackling treacherous waves,
she taught herself to surf again just one
month after the attack and turned pro
in 2007. Regularly competing across the
globe, the energetic Hamilton also found
time to pen her autobiography Soul Surfer
that was released as a major film in 2011
as well as to marry youth minister Adam
Dirks in 2013.
This year, Hamilton has been busier than
ever with a first-place finish at the Surf
N’ Sea Pipeline Women’s Pro in March,
a newly released wellness book for girls
titled Body and Soul, (Harper Collins) her
upcoming movie Dolphin Tale 2 and an
appearance with her husband on The
Amazing Race show premiering on CBS
September 26. Since she’s scheduled
to chase after more waves soon in Tahiti,
Fiji, and whatever swells beckon near her
home in Hawaii, we seized the chance
to ask her a few questions about her
numerous projects and healthy lifestyle.