WEBVTT 00:00:06.349 --> 00:00:09.410 Hi guys and welcome back to Bloom Talks. My name 00:00:09.410 --> 00:00:13.529 is Tania and this is day 15 of my 100 days of 00:00:13.529 --> 00:00:16.510 growth. Honestly, I'm proud of myself for making 00:00:16.510 --> 00:00:19.550 it this far. I'm not here because I'm the queen 00:00:19.550 --> 00:00:22.269 of having my life together. Trust me, my laundry 00:00:22.269 --> 00:00:25.489 pile says otherwise. Or in this house, what we 00:00:25.489 --> 00:00:29.429 call my pile of doom. I'm here because I'm learning 00:00:29.429 --> 00:00:31.769 in real time and because sharing these stories 00:00:31.769 --> 00:00:35.090 generally make me grow. Today's story is one 00:00:35.090 --> 00:00:39.170 of those that everyone thinks they've already 00:00:39.170 --> 00:00:42.530 got figured out, but honestly, they've only seen 00:00:42.530 --> 00:00:45.109 the movie trailer. The real truth is way deeper, 00:00:45.350 --> 00:00:49.609 richer and far more powerful. And yes, I'm a 00:00:49.609 --> 00:00:52.850 bit of a Bethany fangirl. Women like her are 00:00:52.850 --> 00:00:55.570 the reason I cover stories in the first place. 00:00:56.009 --> 00:00:59.210 She's got this incredible mix of strength and 00:00:59.210 --> 00:01:02.590 heart that makes me want to stand up and slow 00:01:02.590 --> 00:01:07.299 clap like I'm in a bad 90s sports film. We're 00:01:07.299 --> 00:01:10.859 heading to Kwai, the Garden Isle, palm trees, 00:01:11.420 --> 00:01:14.760 turquoise water, lazy sunrises. It's basically 00:01:14.760 --> 00:01:18.480 an island equivalent of a screensaver. And in 00:01:18.480 --> 00:01:21.819 the middle of all that beauty, a 13 -year -old 00:01:21.819 --> 00:01:24.819 girl named Bethany Hamilton was doing what she 00:01:24.819 --> 00:01:30.640 loved most, surfing. Not casually, not as a hobby. 00:01:30.810 --> 00:01:35.909 surfing was her world. And then, in a moment, 00:01:36.569 --> 00:01:39.489 everything changed. This episode isn't really 00:01:39.489 --> 00:01:42.950 about a shark, it's about identity, it's about 00:01:42.950 --> 00:01:46.090 purpose, and it's about refusing to let life's 00:01:46.090 --> 00:01:49.129 most brutal surprises define your future. So 00:01:49.129 --> 00:01:51.890 let's go back before the attack, before the headlines, 00:01:51.969 --> 00:01:55.349 and before the movie, to who Bethany really was. 00:01:56.030 --> 00:01:59.730 Bethany Hamilton was born on February 8th 1990 00:01:59.730 --> 00:02:03.769 in Hawaii. She grew up in a surfer's family. 00:02:04.909 --> 00:02:08.030 Her parents Tom and Sherry were the kind of people 00:02:08.030 --> 00:02:10.169 who probably taught her how to paddle before 00:02:10.169 --> 00:02:13.349 they taught her how to walk. She had two older 00:02:13.349 --> 00:02:16.550 brothers Noah and Timothy and if you know anything 00:02:16.550 --> 00:02:19.770 about siblings, especially surfer siblings, competition 00:02:19.770 --> 00:02:23.120 is basically a love language. Bethany started 00:02:23.120 --> 00:02:27.159 surfing at the age of three years old. She got 00:02:27.159 --> 00:02:29.879 competitive at the age of eight and landed her 00:02:29.879 --> 00:02:32.780 first sponsorship before she even turned 10. 00:02:33.740 --> 00:02:36.860 Yes, some kids beg for a new Barbie dream house 00:02:36.860 --> 00:02:40.639 but Bethany was already being paid to surf. What 00:02:40.639 --> 00:02:44.020 people often forget is how disciplined she already 00:02:44.020 --> 00:02:47.199 was. She was homeschooled so she could train 00:02:47.199 --> 00:02:51.199 more and she was already entering and winning 00:02:51.199 --> 00:02:54.960 contests. Surfing wasn't a phase, this girl was 00:02:54.960 --> 00:02:58.560 built for it. Her mum would pack schoolwork, 00:02:58.800 --> 00:03:01.580 Bethany would pack sunscreen and determination. 00:03:02.199 --> 00:03:04.780 Her internal compass literally pointed to the 00:03:04.780 --> 00:03:08.159 beach. Everything in her life was lining up for 00:03:08.159 --> 00:03:12.439 a future as a professional surfer. And then came 00:03:12.439 --> 00:03:17.620 Halloween morning October 31st 2003, a day that 00:03:17.620 --> 00:03:21.039 started out like any other and would change everything. 00:03:21.939 --> 00:03:25.400 It's just so horrifically ironic that this happened 00:03:25.400 --> 00:03:30.740 on October 31st, Halloween night, Halloween day. 00:03:31.139 --> 00:03:32.979 This was definitely something that you could 00:03:32.979 --> 00:03:36.840 pull out of a horror movie. On October 31st, 00:03:36.860 --> 00:03:40.639 2003, Bethany met up with her best friend, Alana. 00:03:41.039 --> 00:03:44.780 Alana's father, Holt, and her brother. They headed 00:03:44.780 --> 00:03:48.659 to Tunnels Beach on Kwai's North Shore, a place 00:03:48.659 --> 00:03:52.340 they had surfed a million times before. Conditions 00:03:52.340 --> 00:03:55.340 were calm, no tension, no alarms in the universe 00:03:55.340 --> 00:03:58.860 going off. Bethany laid on her board, her left 00:03:58.860 --> 00:04:02.340 arm resting in the water, just waiting for the 00:04:02.340 --> 00:04:07.000 next wave. And in complete silence, without warning, 00:04:07.120 --> 00:04:11.949 a 14 -foot tiger shark bit her entire left arm 00:04:11.949 --> 00:04:16.069 off just below the shoulder. It was one bite, 00:04:16.129 --> 00:04:20.050 one second, a moment that could have and statistically 00:04:20.050 --> 00:04:24.250 should have ended her life. What she did next 00:04:24.250 --> 00:04:28.209 is what sets her apart. So Bethany didn't scream 00:04:28.209 --> 00:04:30.550 out, she didn't panic, she didn't thrash around. 00:04:31.209 --> 00:04:34.629 Later she said, I was shocked in my mind and 00:04:34.629 --> 00:04:37.470 my mind just went into autopark alert. All I 00:04:37.470 --> 00:04:41.740 thought was get to the beach. Autopilot at 13 00:04:41.740 --> 00:04:46.019 years old Alana's father made a tourniquet out 00:04:46.019 --> 00:04:50.600 of a rash guard a move doctors said that would 00:04:50.600 --> 00:04:54.860 absolutely save her life. Bethany lost 60 % of 00:04:54.860 --> 00:04:57.740 her blood that day most people don't survive 00:04:57.740 --> 00:05:01.079 that but Bethany made it to shore conscious calm 00:05:01.079 --> 00:05:06.319 and still determined to live and her dad was 00:05:06.319 --> 00:05:09.949 actually just a side note fact but Her dad was 00:05:09.949 --> 00:05:13.069 actually already at the hospital. He was there 00:05:13.069 --> 00:05:16.529 for knee surgery until the nurses obviously told 00:05:16.529 --> 00:05:19.069 up and said, your daughter has been attacked 00:05:19.069 --> 00:05:22.649 by a shark and is in surgery now. Imagine trying 00:05:22.649 --> 00:05:25.930 to wrap your head around that plot twist. Bethany 00:05:25.930 --> 00:05:28.449 woke up in the hospital to the news she already 00:05:28.449 --> 00:05:32.209 somehow sensed her arm was gone. And this is 00:05:32.209 --> 00:05:35.029 where a lot of people would break down. They 00:05:35.029 --> 00:05:40.220 would cry, rage, fall apart, of course. but not 00:05:40.220 --> 00:05:43.360 Bethany. One of the first questions wasn't why 00:05:43.360 --> 00:05:48.180 me or what will happen next, it was will I surf 00:05:48.180 --> 00:05:51.660 again? That wasn't denial, that was focus, that 00:05:51.660 --> 00:05:56.139 was her identity. Hope rooted so deeply in who 00:05:56.139 --> 00:05:58.959 she was and even trauma couldn't rip it out. 00:05:59.319 --> 00:06:02.500 Doctors were amazed she survived at all, but 00:06:02.500 --> 00:06:05.779 her biggest concern was figuring out how to paddle 00:06:05.779 --> 00:06:10.509 with one arm because that's who she is. Here's 00:06:10.509 --> 00:06:15.170 where I get goosebumps. 26 days after losing 00:06:15.170 --> 00:06:20.730 her arm, Bethany paddled back into the ocean, 00:06:22.050 --> 00:06:25.670 literally paddled back in, with stitches still 00:06:25.670 --> 00:06:31.290 healing. Not even a month, 26 days, and yes she 00:06:31.290 --> 00:06:33.829 fell a million times but she kept going. Her 00:06:33.829 --> 00:06:37.329 dad adjusted her surfboard, made it easier to 00:06:37.329 --> 00:06:41.209 paddle, easier to push up. She experimented with 00:06:41.209 --> 00:06:45.269 positions, timing, balance. If you've ever tried 00:06:45.269 --> 00:06:48.629 surfing before, which I have, it is not easy. 00:06:49.430 --> 00:06:51.850 This wasn't just physical recovery for her, it 00:06:51.850 --> 00:06:55.250 was mental defiance. The ocean had taken something 00:06:55.250 --> 00:06:59.149 from her and she went right back into it. Like 00:06:59.149 --> 00:07:05.389 yeah, nice try. I've got stuff to do. Ten weeks 00:07:05.389 --> 00:07:08.589 later, ten, she entered her first competition 00:07:08.589 --> 00:07:13.769 after the shark attack. She placed fifth against 00:07:13.769 --> 00:07:18.389 surfers with two arms, no adaptive categories, 00:07:18.670 --> 00:07:23.009 no inspirational point system, just pure skill. 00:07:23.689 --> 00:07:29.990 Then she won a NSSA national title in 2005 and 00:07:29.990 --> 00:07:35.040 she joined the World Surf League. by 2008. She 00:07:35.040 --> 00:07:38.160 continued to compete at the highest levels, proving 00:07:38.160 --> 00:07:41.860 she wasn't just good for someone with one arm, 00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:44.980 she was good, like full stop, she was amazing. 00:07:45.759 --> 00:07:49.680 She went on to become a writer, she was a motivational 00:07:49.680 --> 00:07:54.459 speaker and the star of a major film, Soul Surfer, 00:07:54.699 --> 00:07:58.079 which was released in 2011, and it was based 00:07:58.079 --> 00:08:00.910 on her true story. She later became the focus 00:08:00.910 --> 00:08:03.970 of a documentary, Bethany Hamilton Unstoppable, 00:08:04.850 --> 00:08:08.790 showing how marriage, motherhood, and elite competition 00:08:08.790 --> 00:08:13.810 coexist. Oh, and she's a mum of four now as well, 00:08:13.990 --> 00:08:16.550 because apparently being unstoppable in the ocean 00:08:16.550 --> 00:08:20.110 wasn't enough, she had to be unstoppable everywhere 00:08:20.110 --> 00:08:23.930 else too. Two decades after the attack, Bethany 00:08:23.930 --> 00:08:26.879 reflected on her journey writing Many people 00:08:26.879 --> 00:08:29.600 could look at the incident as a major setback, 00:08:29.839 --> 00:08:33.139 but God had so much in store for the future. 00:08:33.899 --> 00:08:36.879 She talks openly about faith, resilience and 00:08:36.879 --> 00:08:40.179 not letting tragedy define the rest of your life. 00:08:40.899 --> 00:08:43.580 She also said, I didn't wake up in the hospital 00:08:43.580 --> 00:08:47.039 thinking I was invincible. I had to flip my mindset 00:08:47.039 --> 00:08:51.360 and be willing to do what I had not seen anyone 00:08:51.360 --> 00:08:55.509 else do. That's the heart of who she is. Today 00:08:55.509 --> 00:08:59.649 she's still surfing professionally, still traveling, 00:08:59.909 --> 00:09:03.169 still speaking, still raising her kids to love 00:09:03.169 --> 00:09:06.250 the ocean and still pushing limits nobody else 00:09:06.250 --> 00:09:10.649 sees. On her own website she says, with God I 00:09:10.649 --> 00:09:14.470 am unstoppable and honestly her life proves that. 00:09:15.070 --> 00:09:17.870 Bethany's story sticks with people for a reason. 00:09:18.960 --> 00:09:22.960 Not because of the shock, but because of the 00:09:22.960 --> 00:09:26.220 comeback. She didn't reclaim her life. She redesigned 00:09:26.220 --> 00:09:29.440 it. She didn't wait to feel fearless. She acted 00:09:29.440 --> 00:09:33.220 anyway, and she didn't let a nightmare, a true 00:09:33.220 --> 00:09:36.779 nightmare, still a dream, she'd had since she 00:09:36.779 --> 00:09:40.500 was eight years old. Her life reminds us, you 00:09:40.500 --> 00:09:43.240 are more than what happens to you. Your strength 00:09:43.240 --> 00:09:46.000 may surprise even you. And sometimes the bravest 00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:50.340 things you can do is paddle back out into it. 00:09:51.100 --> 00:09:54.379 Stephanie Hamilton isn't just a shark attack 00:09:54.379 --> 00:09:57.360 survivor, she's a mother, a champion, an offer, 00:09:57.659 --> 00:10:00.580 a speaker, a woman who took her biggest loss 00:10:00.580 --> 00:10:04.100 and turned it into her biggest platform. She's 00:10:04.100 --> 00:10:06.440 a reminder that resilience doesn't always roar, 00:10:06.519 --> 00:10:09.139 sometimes it shows up quietly with salt in your 00:10:09.139 --> 00:10:11.799 hair and a surfboard under your arm, going back 00:10:11.799 --> 00:10:15.059 into the ocean because the ocean is where you 00:10:15.059 --> 00:10:19.389 belong. Thank you so much for listening today 00:10:19.389 --> 00:10:23.269 on Bloom Talks. If Bethany inspired you, even 00:10:23.269 --> 00:10:26.529 half as much as she did me, make sure you subscribe 00:10:26.529 --> 00:10:30.649 and come back tomorrow. Until then, stay safe, 00:10:30.710 --> 00:10:33.990 keep growing and take care of yourself. And maybe 00:10:33.990 --> 00:10:36.669 don't dangle your arm in shark -infested waters, 00:10:36.870 --> 00:10:37.929 but hey, you do you.