Surfer survives attack

last updated 8 January 2015

Lihue, Hawaii

A 15-foot tiger shark attacked one of the nation’s top amateur surfers in Hawaii this week, tearing off her left arm and a 17-inch-wide chunk of her surfboard in a single bite. “My arm was hanging in the water, and it just came and bit me,” 13-year-old Bethany Hamilton said. “I just held on to my board, and it let go.” Bethany paddled toward shore using her remaining arm, and calmly told nearby surfers, “I got attacked by a shark.” A friend’s father kept her from bleeding to death by tying a surfboard leash just below her shoulder as a tourniquet. Three days later Bethany vowed to compete again. “I’m going to get back in the water,” she said. “I want to keep surfing.”