Bethany Hamilton

To lose your everyday life of surfing and being creative on waves, enjoying the ocean - that's scary to me. It was essential to at least try surfing again and get out there and see how it went.

Life is a lot like surfing… When you get caught in the impact zone, you’ve got to just get back up. Because you never know what may be over the next wave.

Courage, sacrifice, determination, commitment, toughness, heart, talent, guts. That's what little girls are made of; the heck with sugar and spice.

It was Jesus who gave me peace when the shark severed my arm. I trust in Jesus whenever I'm going through a hard time. I see all the beautiful things that have come out of my situation. I'm able to share my story with young girls who have few role models, and I can help others cope with what they have been through.

I think it doesn't matter if you are the best surfer in the world. I'm going to try to be the best surfer I can be. It's not all about competing and being the best. It's more about having fun and just doing what you love.

Being able to turn to Jesus after the shark attack kept me alive.

It's hard for me to describe the joy I felt after I stood up and rode wave in for the first time after the attack. I was incredibly thankful and happy inside. The tiny bit of doubt that would sometimes tell me you'll never surf again was gone in one wave.

Like, with one arm I know I can surf, but competitive surfing can be really frustrating, and sometimes you don't do as well as you want to. It can be discouraging at times. But whenever I do get frustrated, I just focus on God.

One arm might handicap me a little in competition, but I just work with what changes I know I have to make, and I'm pretty used to it now. It mainly depends on the wave conditions... I only get half the waves everyone else rides, so mine have to be good!

Surfing for me is more than my lifestyle; it's my passion, my love and it's a part of me.