She's Got Chutzpah

Bethany Hamilton: A teenage wave-rider who returned to the water after a shark attack.

Halloween 2003: Thirteen-year-old Bethany Hamilton was riding the waves on Kauai's North Shore, as she did most mornings.

An amateur surfing champion ranked among the top five in the world, Hamilton was paddling with her best friend and her friend's dad when a 15-foot tiger shark suddenly loomed in the water. Before she knew what was happening, the creature had bitten off most of her left arm just below the shoulder, shaking her as she clung to the surfboard with her other arm, before it swam off. Hamilton, who relies on a strong Christian faith, stayed calm as her friend's father tied a tourniquet around her arm and brought her back to shore. She didn't cry during the attack.

Although many people wouldn't go ankle deep in the ocean again, Hamilton was back on her surfboard one month later, and insisted that she receive no special treatment from surfing officials when she entered competitions. "I just wanted to be normal," she says. "It was definitely hard, and it felt weird, but I was glad to be back out there." To keep up her courage while she's in the ocean now, Hamilton prays, or calls to her friends nearby, or sings. "I don't know why singing works," she says. "Maybe it takes your mind off things." When it comes to fear, Hamilton says, "Just get over it."