Dan Green - Finish Strong

It was a picture-perfect day for surfing at Tunnels Beach, Kauai. A thirteen-year-old surfing prodigy had just finished riding a twenty foot wave and was lying face down on her surf board, dangling her arms in the cool morning water. Preparing to paddle out to catch another wave, her thoughts of becoming a professional surfer shifted in an instant. Without warning, she felt a tug on her left arm, and in a split second, she realized that shed been attacked by a shark.

As she struggled to gain her composure, she realized something even more horrifying: the fourteen-foot tiger shark had bitten clean through her board, taking her left arm in a single bite. At that moment in time, survival, not surfing, became a priority.

Bethany Hamilton learned to surf at the age of four. When she was eight, she entered her first contest and won both events she competed in. At the age of ten, she placed first in the girls under eleven, first in the girls under fifteen, and second in the boys under twelve divisions at the Volcom Pufferfish contest. She was determined to become a professional surfer and was certainly on track to make it happen. Then, in one violently swift moment on that fall day in 2003, it seemed her dreams would be shattered.

However, Bethany was born with the heart of a lion and the competitive spirit of a thoroughbred. She was determined to return to the water to surf. Leaning on support from her friends, her family, and her faith in God, Bethany recovered rapidly, and within ten weeks of the attack, she was surfing again. Convinced she could overcome her physical challenge, she worked hard to learn to surf despite her disability. But she also had to overcome the psychological fear of another attack. Bethany faced her fears by singing and praying when she was out on the water.

Incredible as it seems, less than a year after her attack, Bethany returned to competition, taking fifth place at the National Surfing Championships and first place at the first event for the Hawaii Conference of the National Scholastic Surfing Association. She was recognized by ESPN in 2004 and received an ESPY award for Best Comeback Athlete of the year.

Bethanys ability to overcome her physical and mental challenges puts her in an elite class of achievers. She chose to Finish Strong.

Her unique ability to confront her fears, embrace them, and then continue moving forward in the direction of her goals is the perfect definition of courage.