Global Campus: Creative Writing Competition 2016

Shortlisted Creative Writing Competition 2016 Name: Nadia School: Dover Court International School Age: 10 Word count: 462 How Bethany Hamilton Inspired Me Bethany Hamilton was born on February 8, 1990, in Lihue, Kauai, Hawaii, to parents Tom and Cheri. Raised in a surfing family, along with older brothers Noah and Tim, Hamilton learned to handle the waves at an early age. She began competitive surfing at age 8, and by age 9 she had earned her first sponsorship. A member of the Hanalei Surf Co. team, the home-schooled Hamilton proved capable of beating more experienced surfers in competition. In May 2003, she won both her age group and the open division of Hawaii’s Local Motion/Ezekiel Surf Into Summer event. Shortly afterward, she finished second in the open women’s division of the National Scholastic Surfing Association (NSSA) National Championships at San Clemente, California.Shark Attack SHARK ATTACK On the morning of October 31, 2003, Hamilton went out to surf at Tunnels Beach in Ha’ena with her best friend, Alana Blanchard, and Blanchard’s father and brother. While lying on her board, Hamilton suddenly felt intense pressure on her left arm and was pulled back and forth for a few seconds before the flurry passed. Initially feeling no pain, she noticed the water around her had turned red, and her shocked friends realized that her left arm had been severed nearly to the shoulder. SHARK ATTACK “She was holding onto her board, with her thumb, because she probably didn’t want to get pulled under. It was like pulling her back and forth, not like pulling her underwater.Blanchard’s father fashioned a quick tourniquet from his surfboard leash and led everyone to shore. Hamilton was rushed to Wilcox Memorial Hospital, bumping her father from the operating room where he was about to have knee surgery. Although she lost approximately 60 percent of her blood following the attack and underwent several surgeries, she was stabilized and released after a few days. As the story drew national attention, it was determined that Hamilton had been attacked by a 14-foot tiger shark. Seemingly level-headed about the incident and the radical change to her body, she vowed to return to surfing as soon as posible. BETHANY HAMILTON INSPIRED ME Bethany hamilton inspired me by saying they wont laugh at you because you are different.They tease you because they are jealous of you and thats how I told my friends that I had a smaller hand then the other one and they didn’t laugh, they were just interested. BETHANY HAMILTON INSPIRED ME And that also you don’t have to care what other people say because you just have to ignore them. What I have done is don’t care about what people will say about my scar, or my small hand. If Bethany Hamilton would have chosen not to surf again she wouldn’t be as happy as she is now and she wouldn’t have inspired me. 11 www.nordangliaeducation.com

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