View Full Version : 13 year old girl loses arm in shark attack in Hawaii


likwid
10-31-2003, 10:42 PM
From the swaylock surfboard design forums:

13 year old Bethany Hamilton, the top young amateur competetive female surfer on Kauai,was attacked by a tiger shark while surfing Tunnels this morning. She was paddleing over a wave when the shark attacked her and bit her arm off at the shoulder. Lucky for her, three other surfers in the water were able to stop the bleeding and get her to shore before she lost to much blood. I understand she's on Oahu and alive thanks to the quick thinking of the three surfers who acted so fast. Needless to say this is a real shock to our close knit surfing community. Both of her parents have lived here for over 30 years and are very involved in surfing. Her mother Sherry was a competetive surfer in her youger years and won her fair share of contests. Her dad Tom has been a rep for several surf related companies over the years and a good surfer himself.

:(

Say a prayer for them.

fishsmith
11-03-2003, 12:42 PM
I hear one of the surfers who helped her out used his leash as a tourniquet, that quick thinking may of saved the girl. The bite taken out of the board speaks for itself:

likwid
11-03-2003, 01:30 PM
out in the lineup they used a rashguard first then a leash once back to the beach.

they did an awesome job saving her

they're hooking her up with a prosthetic arm and from what i've heard she'll be back surfing again!

MakoMike
11-03-2003, 01:51 PM
Heard about it over the weekend. They have some might big tiger sharks off the islands. I've seen some 16ft plus jobs while out marlin fishing.

likwid
11-03-2003, 03:19 PM
tiger sharks are like a bluefish feeding
they'll hit everything and anything that moves