We want more like her

Gonz

Gonz

molṑn labé
Staff member
This young woman is an inspiration. I hope she becomes filthy rich & doesn't pay too many taxes. She is earning it.

LOS ANGELES — Three months after losing her left arm in a shark attack, teen surfer Bethany Hamilton received a prosthetic limb.

The 13-year-old from Hawaii, who has already returned to competitive surfing, is on a whirlwind national tour.

Hamilton returned to surfing competition two weeks ago, placing fifth in her age group in the Open Women Division of a National Scholastic Surfing Association meet in Hawaii. She was a top amateur surfer before the shark attack and was expected to turn pro.

The teenager nearly died when she was attacked by the shark Oct. 31 while surfing off Kauai. She lost more than half her blood and all but about four inches of her arm. A friend's father, who was surfing nearby, used a surf leash as a tourniquet and fellow surfers were able to tow her to shore.
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This sort of story always makes me smile - kinda as a reminder of the fighting spirit inherent to most humans.

I'm glad she didn't just give up & sit in a corner moping & feeling sorry for herself as so many would probably have done.

In a way it reminds me of a SA swimmer - Natalie du Toit

Swimmer Natalie du Toit is hoping to have double joy in Athens in 2004 with appearances in both the Olympics and the Paralympics.


Du Toit is a determined competitor

The South African teenager lost her lower left leg in a motorcycle accident in February 2001 but she has not let that stop her promising swimming career.

She came to wide notice at the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games when she reached the final of the able-bodied 800m freestyle, as well as winning the multi-disability 50m freestyle.

Her achievements saw her named as outstanding athlete of the Games.

Her 2003 was another year to remember with gold in the 800m freestyle at the able-bodied All-Africa Games as well as setting new world Paralympic records in the 50m and 100m freestyle.

But the fiercely determined 19-year-old has now set her sights on a new goal - qualifying for next year's Athens Olympics after suffering the heartbreak of missing out on qualification for Sydney in 2000.

"I was only two seconds off qualification in three events for Sydney and it was obviously very disappointing," she admitted.

"I am currently about 20 seconds off the qualifying time for the 800m for the Athens Olympics and I want to work hard towards getting there

I am hungry to reach my goal of the Olympic

Natalie du Toit

"I am really going to go for it and pull out all the stops, whether that is losing a few pounds, working a bit harder in the gym or doing in some extra lengths in the pool, but if I do not make it I will just be happy to go to the Paralympics," she said.

Although du Toit trains with able-bodied swimmers, she admits she does not see herself as disabled and that her focus in training in swimming good times rather than beating her able-bodied colleagues.

To achieve her goal of reaching the Olympics, du Toit has taken a break from her studies at the University of Cape Town to concentrate on her training but she says the support from family and friends is one of the key elements of her programme.

"I want to be as positive as I can," she admits. "The support I have from so many people who took the time to write or phone after my accident has been fantastic and it is difficult to be negative about my situation with all of this positivity.

"But it is not all smiles and if I have a down moment after a poor time or a bad swim my family are there for me. I have some bad times but it you must not hide away from it but try instead to work through it," she said.
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It's people like them that are true heroes in my eyes - kudos to them for never giving up. Kinda makes my little problems seem trivial.
 
Looking for the linky but here's the other side of the story that you havn't heard yet.
localnews1a.jpg


She's not returning to surfing because of the love of the sport but because she doesn't want to lose her sponcers and thus "put financial pressure on her folx"

She now has a PR person working for her and his quote is "I'm going to use her 15 minutes of fame to create the Bethany Hamilton brand"

Part-time Kaua'i resident Roy Hofstetter, a Los Angeles entertainment agent, was asked to help handle the media. He is making arrangements for Bethany to be paid for many of her appearances to help secure her future.
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HONOLULU -- In the three weeks since a shark attacked her, family and supporters of Bethany Hamilton have raised thousands of dollars. More money is coming in with television interviews and another fundraiser.

Days after Bethany was attacked, the Hamilton family employed services of Los Angeles entertainment agent Roy Hofstetter. Hofstetter has arranged interviews for Hamilton on ABC's 20/20 and the syndicated tabloid Inside Edition, which the Hamilton family spokesman said made a very large donation.

source
 
MrBishop said:
Looking for the linky but here's the other side of the story that you havn't heard yet.
localnews1a.jpg


She's not returning to surfing because of the love of the sport but because she doesn't want to lose her sponcers and thus "put financial pressure on her folx"

She now has a PR person working for her and his quote is "I'm going to use her 15 minutes of fame to create the Bethany Hamilton brand"



HONOLULU -- In the three weeks since a shark attacked her, family and supporters of Bethany Hamilton have raised thousands of dollars. More money is coming in with television interviews and another fundraiser.

Days after Bethany was attacked, the Hamilton family employed services of Los Angeles entertainment agent Roy Hofstetter. Hofstetter has arranged interviews for Hamilton on ABC's 20/20 and the syndicated tabloid Inside Edition, which the Hamilton family spokesman said made a very large donation.

source
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The diffrence between her and others using there 15 minutes to make wealth, is she is totally open about it.

In the families time of need they are flooded with phone calls from press epople, and some press people aren't to polite, or anything. I say more power to her, let her make her money, and retire young
 
MrBishop said:
Looking for the linky but here's the other side of the story that you havn't heard yet.
localnews1a.jpg


She's not returning to surfing because of the love of the sport but because she doesn't want to lose her sponcers and thus "put financial pressure on her folx"

She now has a PR person working for her and his quote is "I'm going to use her 15 minutes of fame to create the Bethany Hamilton brand"
Click to expand...

Can anyone say macaulay culkin only difference is that it doesn't seem that her parents are going to spend all her money till she's bankrupt.
 
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