Do you remember the story in October 2003 about the girl who lost her arm in the shark attack off the coast of Hawaii? That young girl was Bethany Hamilton. Bethany Hamilton is a Hawaiian native who loves to surf. I find her interesting not because of the shark attack, but because of what she overcame after the attack. Bethany Hamilton practically grew up in the water. She had a love for surfing from an early age. She was born into a family who loved to surf. Her parent’s, Tom and Cheri, originally lived in New Jersey, but moved to Hawaii before she was born to have better surfing conditions. She was introduced to surfing at an early age and fell in love with it. By the age of five, she began competitive surfing. At the age of nine, her talent was noticed and she was sponsored by Rip Curl USA. On October 31, 2003 her life was changed forever when a shark took her left arm. She was surfing with her best friend Alana, Alana’s dad and brother when she lost her arm to the shark. Bethany Hamilton was resting on her board waiting for the next wave to come. She had her right arm on the board supporting her, and the left arm dangling and splashing …show more content…
A month after the attack she was already back in the water and surfing. In 2004 her book Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board hit the shelves, and became a best seller. She was awarded by MTV, ESPN, and the United States Sports Academy for her courage. Only a year after the accident she won the Explorers Woman Division in the NSSA National Championship. Then in 2007, she become a pro surfer and joined the pro circuit. A few years after her book came out a major motion picture was made based on it. In 2014 she and her husband were on the cast of the Amazing Race. She has also made appearances on the shows Extreme Make Over and Biggest
During her junior year of high school, she set a new woman’s long jump record of 6.68 meters. Her athletic excellence and elite skills caught the eye of many universities one of which being the University of California (UOC)-which she attended solely on a scholarship. Continuing to accumulate fame and glory for her basketball and
(Walls 66). Jeannette’s father throws her out so she can learn to swim on her own – a strategy he uses in parenting as well as swimming. In fact, both
She really did enjoy being out on the water, she felt as if she could sail the world happily forever.
Danielle van Dam was a seven year old girl who lived in a San Diego town named Sabre Springs. The parents lives were changed forever when one morning when they go into Danielle’s room and find that she isn’t there. As a kid, I went to an elementary school in Dehesa which is the same place Danielle's body was found. I remember my mother and I stopped at a memorial of hers at the location her body was found. It was under a tree on the side of the road in which people brought flowers, balloon, cards and pictures of her.
Also, when paddling out it takes her double time because she only has one arm to paddle. Bethany has learned to surf with a handicap. Surfing with one arm presents many challenges. Since her attack many daily activities such as cutting fruit and tying her shoes are something she has struggled. She also had difficulty putting her hair up and tying bathing suits with one
In the 1984 Olympics she earned a perfect 10.0 in Vault making her the first female gymnast in the U.S. to win the Olympic All Around title. “Mary Lou Retton’s wholesome exuberance won her many commercial endorsements, including the appearance on a Wheaties cereal box!”(biography.com) She is in great demand as a motivational speaker and corporate spokesperson. She made many commercials, appeared in several movies and T.V. shows, and is a popular speaker. Mary Lou Retton is still an amazing role model for many young athletes including gymnasts.
When she was seven years old she was the youngest Professional Barrel Racer to belong to the Women's Professional Rodeo Association. At only thirteen years old Fallon was making headlines by qualifying for multiple NFR’s in the 90’s. Only a two years
Today this community gathers in honor of a dear, young girl taken from her family far too early, under deplorable, heartbreaking circumstances. Everyone knew Connie as a strikingly beautiful, lighthearted, decisive girl. It is rare that a teen can have such capability for strong decision making so early. That is not to say that Connie always made the right decisions, as no teenager ever does, but her willingness to make decisions at all is remarkable. My own surplus of indecision led to several regrettable life moments, and so I hope that Connie had no regrets in her young life, which was cut short far too soon.
She wrote blogs about her life, gave speeches, she did whatever she had to do to be heard. Just like many
Gene was puzzled by the sounds, but ran quickly. Gene arrived at the scene and she saw her child, ten feet down, holding himself up just above the surface of the seven-foot-deep water. Gene immediately went in after him, balancing on a plank about six feet down, and used all her strength to swing down and get Harold by the hand. Luckily, Harold was saved by his brave mother. Second, the Melissa Harvey article.
Unbroken Movie and Book Comparison “A moment of pain is worth a lifetime of glory.” Pete Zamperini told his younger brother Louie Zamperini when Louie was leaving for the Olympics. Recently, I have read and watched Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. Upon doing so, I discovered that the book was better than the movie version of this best-selling novel. In the book, Louie started running because of eugenics.
Despite her loss of an arm, she still continued to pursue her dream of becoming a professional surfer (“Bethany”). Bethany Hamilton did not see her loss of an arm as a disability or a burden, instead she thought of herself as unique from everyone else. This shows that Hamilton’s dream positively affected her because she truly wanted to become a professional, so she worked her hardest to make that dream a reality. She did not let other people’s opinions to deteriorate her; instead she thought positively and kept her mind towards becoming a professional surfer. Not only did she get past her disability, but she “strives to remain a symbol of hope and inspiration by touching lives through her platform of faith and sport” (Viti).
A pioneering American swimmer named Gertrude Ederle made history when she became the first woman to swim across the English Channel. Her accomplishment in 1926 was a turning point in women's athletics and served as motivation for a generation of female athletes. People are still motivated by Ederle's legacy as a champion of women's sports today. Ederle was born in New York City in 1905 and started swimming at a young age. She became a gifted athlete very rapidly, and by the time she was 16, she had already won her first national title.
I believe that this has to do with her attitude that she has today. By the struggles she went through, she gained experience to develop a positive attitude. She was able to change her life around, this television show has helped her get her voice out to the world and help many women who are facing the same thing as she did. I believe that this is a great accomplishment that she achieved and was able to share her stories to her audience about her childhood when she was growing up. Beside the Oprah show and her life for books, she was also a great actress.
My neighbor drowned when she was five-years-old. She was swimming at a friends house. When no one was watching she jumped in the deep end. She didn’t know how to swim, so she never was able to come back up after going under. Her parents were busy with her younger siblings, so they didn’t see her jump.